


In the Wake of Afterthought

by Ellesra



Series: In the Wake of Afterthought [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Damaged Kids, M/M, Ninjas Being Ninjas, Psychological Torture, The kids aren't alright (but they will be?), Using genjutsu on kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2019-06-20 05:13:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15526812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellesra/pseuds/Ellesra
Summary: In the years past, Uchiha Itachi has many an opportunity to think through his choices. There were plenty of things he would have done differently, given the chance.





	1. Plots and Plans

**Author's Note:**

> I am just a sucker for time-travel. This is not the first time-travel fic I have started on, and will probably not be the last.
> 
> Yay for Itachi getting to redeem himself for some pretty terrible choices though?

The Hokage’s office had not changed much, throughout the years. Itachi notes this distantly, noncommittally, the thought leading nowhere.

His mind is a blank space, except for the stray observations popping in, and the cold, ever-present doubt. In another life, he had trusted his whole being to this man. He had led an entire life, ended so many other lives, on this man’s simple order.

The Third Hokage. One of the shinobi who had doomed Itachi’s entire clan. And here he was, planning to follow that pattern all over again.

“I understood you had something important to tell me, Itachi-kun?” the Hokage demands.

Itachi blinks. One second. Two. A frown is slowly creeping onto the Professor’s face. Itachi is usually prompt, clinically so. He knows he’s acting different, but he can’t stop his tongue from knotting, his vocal cords from staying silent.

Finally, there are words coming out of his mouth.

“I believe the course decided for the Uchihas will no longer be the safest option, Hokage-sama,” Itachi recites, as if  _ this _ had been the sentence he had been planning for. There was no doubt, no waver.

_ An Uchiha does not waver. An Uchiha must act with the utmost surety. _

It was his father’s words, words Itachi had taken to heart. Or, at the very least, to mind.

“Is it that you cannot stomach the task?” his Leader asks, and there is no judgement in his voice. He had not expected there to be. Sarutobi Hiruzen was both a scholar and a great shinobi, but that was not the sole reason he sat in that chair. No, the man was careful with his allies. Careful to the point of deception. Some men, like Danzō, saw this as a weakness. Itachi knew it for what it truly was.

“I have given the matter careful thought, Hokage-sama. I do believe the act might inflict a war. Perhaps not the day after, or a week, but at some point in the future someone will see Konoha as weakened, and rise against us with confidence. We have only barely come out of our last encounter in one piece. Facing a war without the Yondaime, and bereft of any Uchiha, will leave us too open to attack.”

The Hokage hums. He brings his pipe to his lips, leans back, and breathes in as he lights it. It gives a picture of ease. Itachi is quite certain the man is the opposite of relaxed.

“Do you think this is not something that has been considered? That the possibility of a war has not been weighed against the certainty of a civil war? If the Uchiha attempt a coup, it is a certainty that the other Villages will take notice immediately, and see it as a chance to redeem their honour, as well as their lost resources.”

There is silence. It was, of course, something that Itachi had considered. Not just for the year he had been in on this plan, but for the decade following it. There was not a single day in which Itachi had not considered alternatives.

“There is only one person who need die, Hokage-sama. Once my father is dead, I will become clan head, and, as such, have final say in this matter. I will slowly reform the clan, disassemble the compound, until the Uchiha have integrated into the village fully. It will take time, but I am sure it is the correct path to take.”

There is a tremble to his hands. He does not frown, his face doesn’t change at all. The only result is a small clenching of his fist, to keep the shaking at bay.

His Hokage probably noticed. Even so, the man only watches him for a few seconds, ticking away on his office’s clock. Then there is a nod, a confirmation.

Itachi will not let his disbelief show.

“I will give you another year, Itachi-kun. But should you notice any sign of the situation becoming dire for the village, your only mission then will be to terminate.”

He nods in turn.

As his feet lead him out of the office, out of the tower, he feels something giddy spread through his chest. A jolt in his stomach, like electricity gone awry. 

There might be a chance. To redeem himself. His clan. Sasuke. 

In the future, there might be an outcome where Sasuke won’t have to kill him.

Itachi’s feet hasn’t felt this light in years, even if his body is young and awkward and his hands are shaking even though he willed them to stop. His family and his village are safe for now, and he will make sure they stay that way.

///

“Aniki!” Sasuke’s voice is so small, so shrill, and even though years has gone Itachi can’t help but return to old habits. He pokes his finger to his brother’s forehead, smiling down at him in a way that makes him feel like his breath has a hard time escaping his lungs again. There is a sickness in him, but it is years and years away. It isn’t important, not like Sasuke frowning up at him or his mother smiling indulgently from her position in the doorway or the subtle, yet ever present feeling of an entire family around him, all doing their daily chores like nothing in the world could hurt them.

Like no one would ever plot to slaughter them all.

There is preparation to be done. But maybe, right now, he could follow his mother into the kitchen, and sit down beside his brother.

“How did your mission go, Itachi?” His mother breaks into Sasuke’s chatter, and his brother seems more than happy to turn his attention to Itachi instead. Those eyes are big and adoring, and Itachi feels no more deserving of them now than he did at this point in his life.

“It went well, mother,” he answers, although he cannot concretely remember what mission it was. There are many memories that are clear as glass in his mind, all seen through the Sharingan’s eyes. While later memories don’t overshadow the former, the Sharingan does not remember time. He can remember every little detail, except for how old he was when those details were seen.

Several seconds they sit in silence. Then there is a creak of wood, and his father entered and sat. He begins to eat, and Itachi picks up his chopsticks as well.

“I heard you got called in by the Hokage again today,” Fugaku speaks, his dark eyes grave. Itachi gives a nod, and puts his utensils down once more.

“The Hokage had some concerns,” he utters, watching as his father’s face lights up with rage and suspicion. For being the person who taught him how to never give anything away, his father’s face is like an open book. His mother reaches for Fugaku’s hand, clearly aiming to disarm the situation, but his father is already attacking.

“What does he know!?  _ What did you tell him!? _ ” The man has taken to his feet, and Itachi stares calmly up at him.

Itachi can’t remember his father being this emotional, but it does make sense. The Elder council should be more persistent than ever, now. The tension is building in the village and in the clan, and Fugaku is the person who’s supposed to solve it all.

“It was not about the clan, father. At least not directly.”

Fugaku’s shoulders fall, and his face is a clear indication that he should continue speaking.

“The Hokage has concerns that his former teammate aims to undermine the clan.” 

The clan head’s face returns quickly to its former rage.

“The Sandaime hasn’t been on our side since the Yondaime died. He must be playing you, trying to see where your loyalties lie,” he concludes, sitting down again much more abruptly than before.

Itachi glances over at Sasuke. The boy’s eyes are wide for a whole different reason, now. Fugaku seems to notice as well. When Itachi looks back to him, his mask is back in place.

“We will speak about this later.” That’s the end of the discussion. Yet Itachi has to hide a smile. He couldn’t ask for a better reaction.

Across from him, his mother hides her calculating gaze under a cheerful smile. 

///

The following dawn, Itachi has already put away his futon by the time the sun shows its face on the horizon. Once his uniform is on, he ghosts through the house.

Outside, Shisui waits for him, a brilliant smile on his face.

Itachi can’t help the leap his heart takes. Nor can he help the shame, and his eyes are already whirling before he can stop them.

“Itachi?” his friend questions, frowning as he watches Itachi force the Sharingan back to normal.

“Not here,” is all he explains. Shisui nods, and together they walk in silence towards where Itachi saw his friend last.

“So,” Shisui starts as he leans against the wooden railing, staring into the depths of the river beneath them.

He doesn’t say anything more, clearly waiting for Itachi to speak.

“The plan has changed,” he confides, feeling his eyes once more react to the fast beats of his heart. Since it’s already activated, he takes the time to survey the area around them. There is no chakra signal close to them as far as he can tell, but he trusts his Sharingan more than he trusts his sensor abilities.

“Really? But I thought-”

“Danzō is going to betray us. There is clearly more for him to gain by taking your eyes instead of letting you use them yourself,” he explains, and bitterness creeps into the neutrality of his voice.

Shisui flinches back. His hands are still touching the railing, but they are tense. His powerful eyes are full of disbelief, and Itachi has to look away in order to stop recalling empty eye sockets bleeding as he is offered the remaining eye. 

“How do you know? Did he… Did he give you a different mission?”

“Yes. But I have the Hokage’s permission to change the mission perimeters.”

Shisui releases a breath he seemed to have been holding, and relaxes visibly.

“Thank Kami for your quick thinking, eh?” his friend says, his eyes clearly showing fondness, and Itachi wants to run.

He shrugs instead, and adopts Shisui’s stance against the wooden support.

“This is why you need to leave the village for a while.”

With that, he once more gets regarded with disbelief.

“What? I can’t just leave you alone to deal with all this!” Itachi looks at him sharply, because his voice is too loud. He can’t afford Danzō learning of his plan. He can’t risk Shisui meeting the same fate out of the village as he would have inside it.

“I need you to request a long-term mission from the Hokage. Either that, or go to your Captain and see if she will request one for you. I know for certain that you are a target in the village, and that if I lose you, everything will fall apart.”

Itachi doesn’t know when his tone became pleading. He only knows how important it is that Shisui takes him seriously in this.

His friend takes several long moments to stare at him. He is as serious as Itachi has ever seen him.

“Something happened, didn’t it? You’ve changed since I saw you last.”

There is a pressure behind his eyes. Liquid gathering against his eyelashes.

It isn’t blood. He knows it for certain, and yet he can’t remember the last time he cried anything else.

Shisui opens his arms, however, and draws him into an embrace.

“You are allowed to be supported by others, Itachi. You don’t have to do this alone.”

And yet he does. He can’t let Shisui die again.

///


	2. Adjusting the Lines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clan matters and secret missions.

The rest of the day, Itachi does his tasks with an innate sense of relief. Shisui agreed to ask his captain for a mission outside the village. It meant that, at the very least, Danzō would not be taking Shisui’s eye during that time. Especially since his friend would be on his guard, and never trust the council member as he had done the first time.

He goes on a short mission, assigned by his captain. It is a simple matter, the Daimyō wanting an item planted in one of his guest’s bedroom. Itachi is there and back in little time. His captain merely nods as the report of the mission changes hands between them.

For a moment, hesitation keeps him from leaving immediately. Hatake Kakashi is a great ninja, both in knowledge about the village and in raw skills. Itachi could try to bring the man into his mission, in order to have a strong ally in the complicated times to come.

However, he hasn’t really planned for this situation. There is no careful sequence of words laid out in his head. He would go into it unprepared, which is a thought that gives him a strong feeling of unease.

“Did you have something more to report?” Kakashi asks, his masks revealing nothing of what he thinks.

Itachi shakes his head resolutely.

“No, sir,” he answers, and bows deeply before turning to leave.

Kakashi does nothing to stop him. Itachi hadn’t thought he would.

///

In the original timeline, there is a faint recollection of mission upon mission, stacked upon each other as a way to escape his clan and their accusatory gazes.

Instead of asking for another mission, his steps lead him back home. It is still early morning, the sun only starting to heat the chill remnants of night.

The dew makes the grass slippery, and soaks the corners of his sandals quite fast. Normally, Itachi would simply have run home. Most ninja found walking to be a waste of time, rather choosing to use a bit of chakra in order to spare time.

His lungs expand, cold air settling there, and Itachi enjoys the leisure for the luxury that it is.

During his time in Akatsuki, he actually had opportunity to do just this. While he and Kisame travelled great distances, there was usually no rush. It was the single most effective part about the organization; its leaders were not afraid to take their time, to patiently move the pieces until everything was in place.

The compound comes into view, grass transitioning into pavement. One of the guards can be seen, the other blocked from his line of sight by the wall surrounding the complex.

That wall. It really was symbolic for the Uchiha’s separation from the village. Itachi was unsure whether it would be right to destroy it, after all these years. It might create more spite than positivity towards the village.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be about letting people into the compound, but rather bringing the Uchiha out of it.

As he nears them, one of the guards give him a wave. Itachi knows him as Daichi; a chuunin who is soon to join the Uchiha police force. He can’t remember much of the man, outside of this. All he knows is that he was not the one to kill him. Daichi must have been at the police force headquarters when the massacre happened.

The other guard, Atsuko, he remembers vividly. He remembers the blood running from her lips as the kunai he holds goes into her throat and through to her oral cavity. She only got a quarter of a second to stare at him in shock before she dropped to the floor, and he moved on.

Now, she smiles gently, her eyes creasing almost entirely shut. It looks completely genuine. Itachi’s lips twitch in response, before he looks away.

It is too easy to ignore the crawling guilt. All he has to do is walk on, into his family’s house. Sandals slip off easily, and bare feet carry him easily into the kitchen. His mother is there, assembling a bento for Sasuke. His brother is seated on the floor, slowly eating from a bowl of rice.

Unsurprisingly, Sasuke stops eating when Itachi enter. “Aniki!” follows, while Itachi go to grab a bowl of rice for himself.

Sasuke’s eyes are round as saucers when Itachi sits down by the table as well.

“Aren’t you doing a mission today, Itachi?” his mother asks, and even her eyes are slightly rounder than usual.

It should not be this unusual for him to spend the morning with his family. Then again, breakfast was never a meal all family members were expected to attend. Which meant that Itachi and his father usually didn’t.

“I opted for a short one today. I was hoping to spend the day with father,” he answers, and can see Sasuke visibly deflate. His brother probably wanted to ask him to train with him again. The boy was at the top of his class, but it was apparent that their father did not find that to be good enough.

“I would like to follow you to the academy first though, Sasuke.”

Sasuke ends up eating the rest of his rice with vigor. So much so, that he chokes on the end of it, and has tears in his eyes at the end of his coughing fit. Itachi can’t help the amused chuckle that escapes him at the sight.

His brother, in turn, looks at him with offense. He can even see a pout forming on the boy’s face.

Even so, Sasuke exceeds expectations by getting up, and going back to his quest of Going To School With Itachi. In little time, he is waving goodbye to their mother. Half an hour earlier than he would usually leave.

Itachi is happy to walk a toddler’s pace on their way to the academy. Sasuke is happy to fill the silence with descriptions of his teachers and school topics and classmates.

“... and yesterday we sparred with blunt weapons and I managed to disarm Inuzuka really fast! Of course he tried to throw himself on me and he actually bit me once! I heard they train and live and sleep with dogs, the Inuzuka,” Sasuke rambles, happily holding Itachi’s hand.

He is quite sure that his brother does not have any friends, beyond a preference for sparring and assignment partners. There are no Uchiha children at Sasuke’s age, either.

Itachi finds himself eyeing Sasuke thoughtfully. He continues to smile slightly in response to his brother’s tireless chattering, but ends up thinking of other things as they near the entrance of the academy.

“Sasuke?” he interrupts his brother mid-sentence. There has not been many spaces in the one-sided conversation.

Big eyes turn his way. Sasuke’s jaws promptly shut.

“I have a mission for you.” Itachi crouches down. The boy looks somewhere between excitement and anxiety.

“I need you to befriend the people in your class. Especially the ones from bigger clans. Nara, Inuzuka, Akimichi, Uzumaki, Hyuuga -”

“Uzumaki? That guy with yellow hair?” his brother interrupted, aghast. Itachi lifts one brow, and Sasuke blushes in response.

“I just mean, he doesn’t even have parents! He’s not from a big clan or anything-”

“Sasuke.” The boy shuts his mouth immediately, embarrassment changed into trepidation.

“Uzumaki might be alone, but he is not without connections. And, you should learn, that lonesome people might make the most powerful allies,” Itachi chides, and gets a simple nod in answer.

“So that’s your mission. It is not a mission from the village, but from me. Do you think you can do it?” His voice turns gentle, and he puts his hand on a thin shoulder.

“Of course! I’ll show you, aniki! I can totally do it!” Sasuke tries to convince him. Itachi knows that as long as his brother tries, the simplicity of childhood relations will do the rest.

“Good. Now come here,” he says, and holds his arms open. The expression on his brother’s face is utter surprise. Hesitantly, Sasuke steps into his embrace.

Itachi gives a squeeze of his arms, gently, in order not to hurt the slight body between them.

Then he lets go, gets up, and can’t resist poking Sasuke’s forehead.

“Have a good day at the academy, Sasuke.”

Itachi turns around, and walks away.

///

There is an animal of impatience in his chest. It makes it hard to move, sometimes, without running. The twitching of its tail is the clenching of his hands, as they long to grab a blade and bury it into certain high-standing shinobi’s throats.

Perhaps it is even more tempting to grab his brother, and Shisui, and leave the village for good.

He has left the village before, from loyalty. This time it would be pure selfishness. Maybe, just maybe, he was entitled to some selfishness after all these years.

Instead, he walks into the forest surrounding the village. His sharingan brings all the plants surrounding him into high detail, and he quickly finds what he is searching for.

“Doll’s Eyes”, a deep red stem with white berries. They have a single black spot, hence their name. Itachi quickly pockets several stems. One could be enough. He would rather be sure, however.

Several meters away, he hears a growl. The animal does not have time to do more, before he’s gone in a flurry of leaves.

He reappears in the streets close by the Uchiha compound, and walks through the gates and through muttered greetings of “Itachi-sama”. Back in the compound, he quickly locates his father in their house after a small detour by his own room.

“Itachi,” Fugaku greets, looking up from the paperwork littered on his desk. His eyes are narrowed, his hand interrupted from finishing a sentence.

“I was wondering if I might accompany you today, father. I would like further insight into clan head duties,” Itachi poses, returning the intent gaze with an indifferent one of his own.

His father looks at him searchingly for a moment. Then he nods.

“Of course. It might be time that you get involved in the daily duties of clan head,” he says, and motions Itachi to come closer. Four steps, and he’s standing beside his father’s desk. The paper seems to mostly contain agreements that need signing, with the odd report from the military police force.

“Currently, the biggest issue I am working with is an ANBU that has been breaking the law all over the place. I can’t arrest her, but it’s also my duty to make sure the laws are upheld by all,” Fugaku explains. Disdain is curling his lips. Itachi knows from experience that matters between the ANBU and the police are tricky, because the police have no jurisdiction over the special forces directly under the Hokage. Which must be the reason the matter has been taken to the clan head himself, and not to one of the higher ranking officers.

Itachi takes one of the reports in hand, and reads about an incident of robbery and rape this ANBU is suspected of. He doesn’t know her personally, and wouldn’t be able to tell whether they were well founded.

Any other leader might look the other way. His father is expected to, Itachi knows. It is not supposed to be his problem. However, his father has a clear loathing for the separation between the military police and ANBU, and Itachi assumes that only a clear order from the Hokage himself would make him kill the investigation.

“I could talk to my superiors about this, father. It should be their job to know when the corps is corrupt.”

Fugaku doesn’t look at him, and rather keeps resting his eyes on the papers. He looks distinctly like he would like to handle the matter himself.

However, the months he must have been working on this case alone wins over, and he makes a hum of agreement.

“Very well. The corps might react better to someone from within posing the inquiry, anyway.” The man shuffles through his papers, ordering the ones from this case in a neat pile, and cleaning it away into a folder marked “External”. He then opens another one, marked “Reports”, and hands a small pile over to Itachi.

“Read through these. Tell me if anything stands out.” His father then returns to his own pile, and Itachi finds a place to stand to the side.

The reports contain everything from minor crimes like pick-pocketing and other misdemeanour, to more serious matters like rape and murder. Itachi carefully sorts them, and hands them back to his father.

“These are poorly written,” he points to one pile, “these have a lack of sufficient proof,” he points to another, “and these are not actually within our jurisdiction,” a smaller pile, only containing two reports. Then he hands over a last pile, about the same size of the other piles put together. “These are fine.”

Fugaku shortly looks through the piles. He has clearly read them through before. Though his brows rise in surprise at a couple of reports, there is clear approval in his expression.

“Good.” The reports get put into the folder again. All of them except a couple held Fugaku’s signature already, which proved that most had been accepted. Itachi does not mention it, though. His father would not have acquiesced if he did not agree. It was clear that nit-picking was more encouraged in tests than in reality. Processing would take double the time if one was to mark down every little grammar mistake.

“Now, if you would take a look at these, and write down any comments you might have,” his father intoned, while grabbing another pile. This one was taken from a pile on his desk, however. It wouldn’t be reports his father had already looked at.

Itachi knows that having his help would lessen his father’s workload considerably, and receives the pile without comment.

///

“Uchiha Shisui came to me with a peculiar request today, Itachi-kun,” the Hokage intones. Clearly curious, clearly calculating. Itachi inclines his head.

“I would not think that sending away your ally is to the best of your mission,” the Sandaime continues, almost reproachful. Like he suspects Itachi of some dastardly plot.

He almost laughs, then. The Sandaime had been the only one completely certain of his loyalties, in his past future. Now, it seemed the man was the only one who doubted him.

“Shisui is a hidden ace to the Uchiha. While they do not take him seriously, they know and prize his abilities. A coup will doubtfully happen in his absence. With him gone, they will be forced to bide their time,” _while I set my plan in motion_ unsaid but not unheard.

In moments, the Sandaime is back to genial old grandfather, little hint of the dangerous shinobi left. It sets Itachi on edge, just a bit.

“Sound reasoning. You will be pleased to hear, then, that I have approved the request. He will be sent out for approximately 6 months, though the mission might drag out as long as a year,” the Hokage offers, and holds out a hand. In it is a slip of paper. “Mission parameters, should you need to know.”

He takes the paper, and stands at attention until the village leader dismisses him.

Now it will only remain to be seen how the clan reacts in turn.


	3. Missions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to understand everything with only one set of eyes.

The Uchiha Clan Council is comprised mostly of older Uchiha, though there is the occasional younger clan member. Any member of the clan can join in the council meetings once they have reached the rank of chuunin, though many chose not to. Recently, though, most who could join did, in the face of their planned coup.

The room is almost entirely filled with ninja, the usual one row extended to three. The elders sit in front, with Fugaku himself on a raised dais. Itachi stands beside him, as an heir is expected to.

His father raises a hand, and the room falls silent of its persistent murmuring.

A pointed nod towards one of the elders, and she rises to her feet and speaks.

“The corps have sent Shisui on a long term mission. Sanctioned by the Hokage himself. It seems convenient, that just as we have come to this point in our planning, the Sandaime takes one of our key players out of the village,” she speaks, her voice ringing into the silent room. The room erupts in muttering once more, this time in outrage more than curiosity.

The woman is one of Shisui’s closest relatives, the wife to his deceased grandfather. Though she is speaking as though quoting a history text, Itachi can read anger in the lines of her body’s language. He watches her warily.

Fugaku’s hand rises once more, and silence falls again.

“And what would you have me do?” A pause, as though inviting answer, “tell the Hokage he cannot make use of Shisui? As I heard, Shisui has already accepted the mission. That he is not here speaks for itself,” his father speaks. 

“Then we need to go through with it without him! Either the Hokage knows, or Shisui has abandoned us! The only way to answer that is to go through with it at once, to keep our element of surprise!” another elder shouts, an old man that is one of the eldest in their clan. Age had clearly not given him wisdom, Itachi thinks to himself.

“With half a plan? How do you suggest we make up for the hole in our defenses without Shisui here to bridge the gap, elder Fuyu?” Another elder woman, this one responding calmly from where she is sitting. The latter turns his rage towards her. She smiles indulgently.

“The Hokage would not answer so simply, were he to know our plans. The Sandaime might play the old fool, but he would slaughter us all if he saw us as a threat to the village,” Itachi breaks in. The room turns to him as one, eyes lit up with surprise and confusion.

Itachi was not one to usually break into the conversation like this. Normally, he would speak when spoken to, and keep his opinions to himself.

Now, though, for his plan to work, it was important that he play the council completely, and not alienate them as he had done the first time. 

In the corner of his eye, he sees even his father looking at him attentively. With no outward reaction to the staring, Itachi continues.

“I also know for certain that Shisui only accepted because it was the Hokage himself demanding it. It was, apparently, a mission only someone with his  _ abilities _ could manage.” Any who knew of Shisui’s particular skills would catch the meaning of this. 

There was a stark sense of relief seen in many of the faces around him. And it hit him, then, that many of the Uchiha might not actually want to rebel. They were angry about the village’s treatment of them, but it was a long throw between anger and the wish to destroy everything you are familiar with.

“And what would you suggest we do, Itachi?” his father speaks suddenly, and Itachi can’t keep his own surprise from showing.

He takes a moment to gather his reply, and observes the many thoughtful gazes in the time it requires for him to do so.

“We should further infiltrate Konoha ranks, integrate ourselves into the village’s organization. We have Shisui and I in ANBU, yet we have no one in the administration office, the academy or the hospital. Right now all our members are contained to the military police force, and that is a weakness. They assume Uchiha do not have the abilities or will to change and adapt. They are wrong.”

There are nods around the room. Some look doubtful, but most look determined. Some, even, seem hopeful.

“So we should reduce ourselves to nursemaids and desk jockeys?” comes a response from his right. It is elder Fuyu again, always taking an opportunity to argue. 

“Having officers close to the Hokage in the administration office is not a bad idea,” his father’s voice counters. When Itachi looks at him, the man is not looking at the room. Instead, he is writing on a scroll, names of his clan members already connected with their potential places.

While Itachi would rather have their clan choose for themselves, he could not have asked for a better outcome. 

The meeting goes on to discuss other matters. Shisui’s mission and the clan’s planned coup gets put to the back of their minds, and they go over to more everyday matters like compound rules and planned events. 

At the end, Itachi sees his father be approached by one of the elders, as everyone slowly file out of the room. He can hear his name mentioned, as well as see the slight smile on his father’s face. Itachi leaves the conversation alone, satisfied they were not talking badly of him.

On his way out, his mother approaches him. She’s eyeing him conspiratorially, and it makes Itachi wonder what she’s thinking. He keeps walking, and she settles her pace to walk beside him. There is a slight smile on her face, and Itachi can’t be sure if it’s one of her polite masks, or if the expression follows a certain emotion.

“You impressed many people today, Itachi-kun,” she murmurs, and it’s only barely that he hears her over the sound of their sandals on the gravel.

He does not respond. While he is not afraid that his father will think to look beyond his newfound devotion to their clan, he is certain his mother might. In appearance, Uchiha Mikoto is merely a housewife. However, she had also retired in the rank of jounin, and Itachi knew she kept up her training.

More than that, though, his mother takes it upon herself to watch out for the entirety of the family. And he is not exempt from that category.

“You have changed recently. One would almost think you have found a new motivation,” she continues, the last word clearly loaded with unspoken meaning.

His eyes sharply travel from the road before them to her face. She meets his gaze, staring evenly back at him.

“Some… Revelations have come to me,” he admits, failing to hide the hesitation behind his words. Every explanation sounds more plausible with grains of truth sprinkled throughout. How much, though? It is a fickle scale to weigh, between enlightened child genius and madman.

She waits patiently, letting him carefully put together his words.

“There are certain parties that have reached out to me, which has encouraged me to take larger part in this conflict,” he concedes. She stops walking, steps from the door to their house, and keeps her sharp dark eyes on him.

“Who?” she asks, more bluntly than he would have expected. It makes him falter, surprise making its way onto his face.

Then he looks around, noting the several Uchiha still outside. Some are lounging on the terraces or even on the grass, and he looks back to his mother significantly.

There is no need for words. His mother nods, and they walk into their house.

Inside, they are both met with the sight of a positively vibrating Sasuke.

“Okaa-san! Nii-san!” His brother greets. It brings a stop to their conversation, but Itachi knows his mother will pick it up sooner rather than later.

While Mikoto says with a smile that she will start on dinner, Sasuke grabs Itachi’s hand intently. The boy pulls Itachi into his room, while saying that he has something very important to tell him.

Itachi suspects that this will be the time for a mission report, and sure enough, once the door closes Sasuke spills waves of news on the progress of his “friend-mission”.

“I thought that it would be good to start with Naru Shikamaru, because he’s the less noisy of them. But when I went and asked him to be my friend, he said I was too troublesome! But he likes Akimichi just fine, and he’s just eating all the time! So I tried to say hi to Yamanaka Ino, but she said that she and Haruno were busy with braiding their hair,” he makes a grimace, “and, well, Kiba just growled at me, so I think he was still mad that I beat him. And Shino, uhm…”

Sasuke stops talking. His face goes red. Itachi raises his eyebrows, and his brother takes the hint to continue.

“He has all these bugs living in his body! It’s really creepy,” he says, and a shiver goes through his shoulders. Probably imagines them crawling.

Itachi doesn’t blame him. Even trained shinobi are sceptical of the Aburame: not only are bugs seldom a thing ninjas are faced with; the clans techniques are incredibly deadly.

“But I did manage to make a friend!” Sasuke exclaims, breaking into Itachi’s imagination of several species of bug crawling under his clothes.

“Hyuuga Hinata was actually really nice, and said it would be nice if I wanted to eat with her. So I did! And she’s very shy, but actually pretty cool when you start to talk to her,” he admits, and looks to his brother for affirmation. Itachi nods, if only to appease his brother’s need for reassurance.

From what he remembers, Hyuuga Hinata had been utterly weak. While she had clearly managed to get slightly stronger over the years, her lack of confidence had seemed to him her biggest weakness.

However, the implication of an Uchiha-Hyuuga friendship, and with their heir no less, was much more important than whatever future abilities she might have. And through that friendship, she might be able to cultivate her skills and mental resilience in a better manner.

With Itachi’s clear approval, Sasuke starts talking about her in earnest.

“So we had lunch together, and then we paired off in genjutsu class, and she actually made some really funny comments about the other people in class! Apparently she’s been taught to use her eyes, and can see how people use their chakra with them, and maybe I can do that too when I get the Sharingan?” 

“She was able to use her eyes?” Itachi asks, and Sasuke gets a particularly dour expression on his face. He is quite sure that his brother is feeling inferior for his own lack of advanced eyesight. Sasuke is all too aware that Itachi awakened his at the same age that he is now.

“Then you have gotten an impressive friend, Sasuke. It means that you are succeeding in your mission,” Itachi redirects, and his brother lights up once more.

“What about Uzumaki?” he then asks, and Sasuke makes a grimace again.

“It was really hard to talk to him! He kept being annoying and trying to prank our teacher, and he’s always at the bottom of the class! And then Hinata-chan started talking about him like he was some big hero,” Sasuke gripes, and his mouth turns to a pout. Itachi can’t help but find it entirely adorable.

“Did you ask her why she thought he was a hero?” Itachi responds. Sasuke’s guilty expression speaks volumes.

“I didn’t really get the time! She was being picked up by some other academy boy and he was glaring at me really hard, so I went home,” the boy admits.

He nods, and stills as he hears their mother call from the hallway.

“Anything else to report?” he asks, after having given an affirmate to Mikoto that they were coming.

Sasuke seems to seriously ponder the question. Then he shakes his head.

Itachi gets up, and Sasuke follows him into the living room for dinner.

///

During dinner, his father seems in a particularly good mood. The man eats two bowls of udon where he would normally eat one, and compliments Mikoto twice on her cooking. She, in turn, smiles more than she usually does. Sasuke, meanwhile, is staring at them with wonder, also noticing the change.

When Fugaku starts talking about the council’s positive disposition to Itachi, however, he can see his brother visibly close up. 

It’s been like this for years, and he sadly can’t see it changing any time soon. The first time, his father had changed his outlook on Sasuke when Itachi started separating himself from the clan.

This time, he wouldn’t be doing it the same way. Which means that Fugaku might not realize his neglect in time.

Itachi might have to find some other role model for the boy.

///

One would think that in the Hokage’s office, there is nowhere to hide four elite ninja. The room is circular with only the barest amount of furniture. There are no shady corners, no edging of hidden entrances along the walls or the bare ceiling.

Shisui can’t help but gape, as he sees the room in its entirety from his current vantage point.

He has wondered himself, sometimes, how the Hokage’s guards stay hidden. Even with his sharingan, he had not been able to see them nearby.

From this point of view, he can see the seals etched into the transparent ceiling. It’s quite frankly ingenious.

There is a snicker beside him, and he looks at one of the other masked individuals currently guarding the Hokage. The person is clearly eyeing him, where they’re leaning against the curved wall. Shisui might have sent them a glare. Instead he just crosses his arms, and turns his gaze intently back on the Sandaime. The man is doing paperwork, undoubtedly an activity he would be doing a lot during Shisui’s work hours. 

“So what’s your deal, kid?” an unmistakingly male voice asks. This is another than the one who had snickered, a bit taller and broader. Shisui feels he can hear the smirk on the man’s tone.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” he answers, because the Hokage expressed that his presence must be a secret. While he doesn’t think the Hokage’s own guard would rat him out, his experiences with his own clan left him hesitant to trust anyone within the village.

The guard lets out a puff of air, and tilts his head slightly.

“Well, that is not entirely accurate. You see, we have been ordered to watch you. So it’s a bit of a double job, you see,” he says. Shisui frowns, and thinks the sentence over.

All the Hokage had told him, was that he was to be undercover within the village until things sorted themselves out. Whatever that really meant.

It was not unthinkable that the Sandaime had asked his guards to look out for Shisui too; there was a reason he was there, after all. However, it did make him feel a bit useless. He was a good ninja, yet here he was, occupying the Hokage’s own guards because some madman wanted his eyes.

A madman that was very much within the Hokage’s responsibilities, of course, but still. Shisui was quite sure he could take on the old council member, at any rate.

“Leave him alone,” the last member of the guard team utters. Another male, just as unrecognizable to Shisui as the other two. This guy is writing something on a board, as underneath them there is a knock on the door to the office. Shisui looks, and from there he can just barely see the form of the Inuzuka clan leader through the door.

Now that he’s looking, he can also see through all the walls in the office, as well as all the furniture.

They really are standing in the perfect spectator’s box.

“How do we go in? If something were to happen, that is,” he asks. Immediately, the last ninja steps forwards.

“We each have our own seal,” he explains, crouching down to touch an indentation in the floor. Shisui goes down on a knee to do the same.

“You channel chakra into it, and then you fall through like the floor isn’t there. There is similar seals on the walls, so you can go through if the attack isn’t actually coming from inside the office,” the man explains. Shisui thinks there is something familiar about the man’s voice, but if so, the person is also probably in the official ANBU corps. Which brings him just as far as to the person’s identity.

The man goes back to his corner of the round room, resuming his pose against the wall.

“So… What do I call you guys anyway? As nice as it is to refer to you as man, guy and person with clipboard, I’m guessing you have some sort of names.”

As one, two of them turn towards each other. Clipboard guy just keeps on writing, occasionally turning his head towards where Inuzuka Tsume is giving a report of some sort.

The other two have clearly worked together for some time. It is apparent in the way they communicate without sound, just a single gaze through the slits of a mask before they turn back to him.

“We can at least tell you who the two of us are. I mean, you’re gonna be living with us anyway.”

When the Hokage had told Shisui he had made arrangements, he had kind of thought of something closer to a safe house outside the village or a hidden apartment in the ANBU quarters. Not squatting with two ninjas he didn’t even know the identity of.

Joke’s on him, really.


	4. Secrets Shared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A secret shared makes the load less heavy

If there was to be declared a princess of the academy, Yamanaka Ino would obligingly point to herself.

She’s smart. Beautiful, graceful and strong. There is no other girl in her class that can beat her, not in spars, and not in academics.

Then, suddenly, Hyuuga Hinata gets a friend, and it all changes.

Ino is lying on the padded sparring platform, intense pain blooming in her shoulder. She can’t move her arm. Her legs are painful from exertion, and her head might have hit the floor a bit too hard on the way down.

Above her stands Hinata, formerly one of the weakest girls of her class. Her creepy white eyes are bulging and determined, and Ino feels a strange bout of fear as she observes the veins surrounding that hard gaze.

From the side she can hear the whooping cheers of Uchiha Sasuke.

With a grunt she pulls herself up, even as Iruka-sensei storms in to help her. Hinata moves away, and if Ino cared to look at her face, she would see an apology written there.

She’s not interested in Hinata’s apologies. She would much rather beat her face into the dust, and have Sasuke see  _ her _ as the cool one, not this wimpy Hyuuga heiress.

The grimace pulling her face would make her mother stare at her in alarm. Quite often she gets told how she needs to be pretty and perfect, even if she is a ninja.

It’s hard to stay perfect when your arm won’t move.

“Do you need to go to the hospital?” her sensei asks, and it takes a lot of effort not to let the tears flow down her cheeks. Instead, she shakes her head resolutely.

Without so much as a wince she leaves the ring, Sakura coming towards her with a panicked look in her eye. Ino merely shrugs her off, and walks straight over to where Sasuke and Hinata are standing together.

“Sasuke-kun,” she greets in what would normally be a sweetly polite tone. Now it’s just on the edge of harsh.

“I think you should be  _ my _ friend, not Hinata’s,” she claims, and keeps her chin raised as Sasuke’s eyes widen incredulously. Hinata, meanwhile, is clearly retreating back into her shy self. Good.

“I asked if you wanted to be my friend a week ago!” Sasuke exclaims, throwing up his hands. Ino would have crossed her arms, but ends up pouting instead with the frustration.

“Well, I want to be friends now!” she answers back, a slight bit louder than Sasuke. Sakura is gripping her arm, clearly frightened at this new development.

The boy sneers, and Ino can remember her father’s offhand comments about Uchihas and their sneers. She returns the expression with one of her own.

“Well, we can be friends, but I’m not gonna choose between Hinata-chan and you!” even louder, and most of their fellow students are having a hard time choosing between looking at them, or at the loud spectacle of Kiba and Naruto brawling in the ring.

“Fine!” she screeches, and turns away in a flurry to stomp away. Sakura is scurrying after her, and behind her she thinks she can hear Hinata sigh with relief.

Ino walks away from the class, and their sensei seems to be having too hard a time with managing the fight to go after her.

When she finally stops at a table and sits down on the bench, Sakura hesitantly follows her lead, while glancing doubtfully back at the class.

“Uhm, Ino-chan…” Sakura mutters, and Ino lets her attention fall fully on the girl.

“Speak up, Sakura-chan! Nobody will take you serious if you keep whispering all the time,” she says, while trying unsuccessfully to lift her arm more than a couple of centimeters.

“Do you not want to be my friend anymore?” Sakura asks, and it’s in such an uncharacteristically loud and clear voice that Ino starts.

She lets out a puff of air, and tries to convey with her eyes how very stupid she finds that question.

“Of course we’re still friends! We are best friends, Sakura-chan. A boy isn’t going to come between that!” and she reaches forward to grip one of Sakura’s hands in her own.

There are tears in Sakura’s eyes, and Ino squeezes her hand extra hard for good measure.

The coming lunch break, they are sitting at the same table when Sasuke and Hinata come over. The boy seems determined, and sits down with more force than necessary for such an easy task. The Hyuuga heiress, meanwhile, places herself daintily on the far side of the table, head bowed and eyes on her own bento.

At this point, Ino can at the very least hold her chopsticks with only the slightest trouble. If not, she might have held a lot more seething anger than she currently did. While she is still irritated at the girl, she also feels a grudging respect for her skills. 

“The spar between you two was really cool,” Sasuke says, clearly trying to fill the silence. Ino, always one to be the center of attention, puts on her most beautiful smile and nods.

“Yes, you took me by surprise, Hinata-chan! So you should look out, because next time I won’t try to go easy on you!” she says. Though Hinata’s head is bowed, Ino thinks she can spot a tentative smile.

“Hai, Ino-san,” the girl answers, and starts eating her bento. Sasuke, meanwhile, has been watching them with narrowed eyes. With such a peaceful resolution, he nods his head with satisfaction and opens his own lunch.

Now that Ino gives it a thought, she supposes having these two as friends wouldn’t be that bad. She was due to increase her circle of admirers anyway.

///

Something was happening in his class, and after weeks of development even Naruto can’t help but pay attention to it.

It was a well known fact that he didn’t have any friends. The teachers knew it, and smiled with glee. The other children knew it, and would tease him about it whenever he tried to approach them. With time, he simply assumed he would have to be his own friend.

Seeing a group form out of nowhere, though, seeing them become friends without any work at all, made him sad. It wasn’t that it was not fun to make the teacher sit on a pin, or to paint the Hokage mountain, or to rearrange the old man’s papers when he wasn’t looking.

It just looked like they were having a lot more fun than him, just sitting around eating lunch together. They also played Ninjas and Bandits, or Tag, or Hide and Seek. 

Naruto really, really,  _ really _ wants to join.

It isn’t really worth it though, to go over just to get scowled at, and shouted at by Ino, and told he was “troublesome” by Shikamaru and that he was too dumb by Sasuke and-

“Naruto-kun?”

He whirls around, and behind him is Hyuuga Hinata. The girl Sasuke befriended first, who Naruto hadn’t really noticed before she beat up Ino.

“Uhm…” the girl continues, and puts her fingers together in front of her bowed head. Naruto just stares at her in confusion for a moment.

“Hinata-chan!” he erupts, and plasters on his biggest smile. She flinches at his loud tone, but he jumps up either way.

“Did you get tired of dumbo Sasuke and want to hang out with me instead!?” he asks. Over at said dumbo’s table he can see several heads turn to watch them.

“Ah, no, I… Uhm…” and Naruto can see her face turning red.

“It’s okay Hinata-chan, I can protect you if they come over to be mean,” he loud-whispers conspiratorially. 

Naruto is sure he has never seen someone be this shell-shocked.

Even so, she opens her mouth again, a resolute expression on her face.

“Sasuke-kun wanted to invite you to our game. I thought… You don’t have to join us if you don’t want to, Naruto-kun. I can… Uhm, tell them that you are busy?” she says, her voice stronger than before. She looks down at his lack of a lunch box, probably trying to find something Naruto could have been busy with.

He, meanwhile, feels about as shell-shocked as she had looked. The smile is clearly not on his face anymore, because Hinata looks at him worriedly.

“I’m sorry to have bothered you!” she apologizes, and hides her red face while turning away from him.

“No wait!” he shouts desperately, and runs after her even if she’s only gone a couple of steps. His shoulder bumps into her, but she only stumbles a little, fortunately not falling.

That is how Uzumaki Naruto ended up playing with the group. While Shikamaru was only dozing by a tree and not actually hiding, Sasuke was impossible to find and Ino complained so loudly his ears started hurting, it was the absolute best game he’d ever played.

///

The first time she hears about Sasuke’s new friends, she’s surprised.

Her youngest is an amazing boy, bright and strong, but in her opinion he always tried too much to resemble his brother.

To say that Itachi never brought any friends home would be quite the understatement.

That her oldest had never even had friends, would be closer to the point. She was afraid that even his involvement with Shisui was more obligation than a sincere wish for company.

One of her biggest fears for Sasuke was that he, in his strive to become just like his brother, actually managed to.

Now, her surprise is laden with relief, because finally, Sasuke has found some human connection other than their dutiful family.

So, she urges him to invite his friends home.

What she didn’t know, was that with friends plural, there were actually six. And, more than that, four were the heirs of the most influential clans of Konoha.

Not to mention, the last was none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

Mikoto beckons them all in, and makes them settle on the floor in the living room. The thought of placing them around a table is put to rest, and she gives out bowls of ramen that the Yamanaka imperiously helps her hand out.

“Thank you for your help, Ino-chan,” she speaks, and the girl glows as she sits down with the rest of them. 

“Wow, this ramen is as good as the one at Ichiraku’s!” a bright shout comes from the group, and Mikoto feels pain jolt in her chest as she looks at the tiny boy. Conflicting emotions war inside her, and she turns away to clean the counter.

When she looks back, Sasuke is frowning at her. Once more she puts on a smile, and sees her son relax. The Hyuuga heir whispers something at him, and he giggles.

There is a warm feeling in her stomach, fighting against the dread constricting her chest. Before she manages to get them quite under control, however, Fugaku enters.

The first thing he does, is raise one sceptical eyebrow at her. She imagines he has never had this degree of noisiness in his house. A screech is heard from the Yamanaka, and she muffles a chuckle beneath a hand as he sighs. The Nara seems to be mirroring her husband’s exasperation, because she catches him muttering about “troublesome loud girls” from his side of the table. 

“I am Uchiha Fugaku, Sasuke’s father,” Fugaku speaks, and the children fall silent at once. The look he gives each of them is clearly assessing, and Mikoto has something fiercely protective curling her hands into fists. A moment later she uncurls them, and otherwise she doesn’t show reaction to the maternal instinct.

The children echo a greeting at her husband, and he nods. Then he grabs a bowl of his own, and settles down in the middle of the small crowd.

Sasuke is staring at him in shock, and most of the other children look unsure.

“Hey, old man! You must be really strong, since you’re Sasuke’s father!”

Mikoto will not take her eyes off Fugaku, in case he decides the insubordination is too much and reaches out to throttle the kid.

Instead, his face contorts into a pointed smile. It is a thing that would make Uchiha’s enemies wary. The Uzumaki, meanwhile, grins toothily back.

“I am.” he states. Sasuke looks like he can’t decide between being offended and being incredulous. Mikoto feels the same.

“My father sends his greetings, Fugaku-sama,” comes a much smaller voice from beside Sasuke. It’s the Hyuuga heir, and Mikoto once more is taut with tension as she watches her husband.

“You can tell him I send greetings back,” Fugaku responds, and Mikoto sees Hinata’s small shoulders sink as she’s relieved of his sharp gaze.

Seeing that most of the children have finished their bowls by this time, she decides to alleviate the loaded atmosphere of the room. “Why don’t you go into the garden and play, Sasuke?” she suggests, and he springs to his feet at once. Uzumaki looks down at his empty bowl with what seems like sadness, but leaves it behind in order to run after his friends.

As Nara’s lazy steps are the last to leave the room, Mikoto turns back to her husband. His expression is strangely soft, and he is idly swirling his noodles instead of eating them.

She takes a bowl of her own, and sits down opposite him.

“Sasuke has changed lately,” she comments carefully. Fugaku’s gaze redirects to her, and she’s not sure if she should be glad or sorry that she brought him out of his daze.

“He has.”

They eat in silence for minutes before he speaks again.

“This might be an opportunity. If we are to follow the tactics Itachi suggested, then having an in with the other clans would be a great asset,” he says.

Mikoto smiles. Not because he is talking about their son like he was some sort of pawn. Rather, it is quite clear to her that Fugaku is just too embarrassed to say he’s happy their son has made friends.

“I’m happy for him too,” she says instead, and rolls her eyes as Fugaku only makes a small sound of acknowledgement.

They spent the rest of the meal in a more comfortable kind of silence.

///

“Do you ever discuss the decisions the Sandaime makes?”

Utter silence meets the question. Shisui is currently laid out on Shiranui Genma’s way too comfortable couch. The owner of said couch is staring at him incredulously.

From the kitchen corner of the apartment, Shisui hears an unexpected chuckle from the third resident of the flat.

“There is a reason we are the Hokage’s guards,” Genma answers evasively, while rubbing his brow in what seems to be discomfort.

“If you want to doubt the Hokage’s decisions, you should join the council Shisui,” comes from the kitchen. Namiashi Raidō steps into the living room, arms laden with plates. The ninja weaves gracefully between the room’s furniture as he walks over. Immediately, Shisui straightens up, gazing eagerly at the source of the delicious smell that had lingered the last half hour.

The two Konoha ninja had been housing him for the last couple of weeks. From the time Shisui first learnt their names, he has also learnt that Raidō is an exemplary cook, that Genma usually did the housework, that both are early risers and that the two of them have a weird sort of synchronicity. They have told him very little of their pasts, other than mentioning in passing that they were also the guards of the Yondaime Hokage.

The last member of their group, Shisui only knows as Hato, which somewhat matches the bird-like visage of his mask. Other than that, he had learned that the man was solely responsible for writing down every little detail from absolutely everything that happened in the Hokage’s office. It made sense that the Hokage would want everything down in case he missed something; but Shisui also thought of all the things he had said in that office, that he thought was only between the Hokage and him.

Here were three people that knew every secret that had ever been whispered in that room.

Shisui’s gaze goes back to Genma, who is calmly eating his portion even as a small smile gives away his delight of the food. The man was usually somewhere between sarcastic and jolly, which Shisui found went well together with his own sense of humor.

Raidō, meanwhile, was always composed. It was already clear why the man was the captain of the team, and not Genma; there didn’t seem to be a single situation that could rattle him. 

“Are you going to eat that?” Genma asks, and Shisui pulls the bowl possessively to his chest in reply. The man chuckles, and points hopefully towards the kitchen. Raidō nods in answer, and Genma is off to get his second portion. Shisui inhales the contents of his own bowl with a hum of satisfaction.

“Okay, but you guys know about the whole Uchiha thing,” Shisui brings up again. Raidō looks at him pointedly, and Shisui hears a cheerful “yep!” coming from the kitchen.

“So, do you think it’s being handled correctly? Because I sure have no clue,” he moans, and slides down on the couch until he’s laying on his back once more. The bowl goes on the table, empty.

“We are not at liberty to discuss it, unless you want to bring up your personal account of the matter,” Raidō answers patiently, because this sure isn’t the first time Shisui’s brought up similar topics. Genma was right. There was a very good reason why these guys were the Hokage’s guards. They really knew to keep their mouths shut.

“It’s not like we know how much you know about it either,” Genma continues the thread, as he comes back with a full bowl.

Shisui feels his interest pique. Genma wasn’t saying that there were things he didn’t know, but he was quite sure he could hear it between the lines.

There has never actually been anyone for him to discuss the entire matter with. Because, while Itachi was his partner in this case, Shisui’s doubts now holds Itachi in their center. The boy is younger than him, and yet he seems to feel as if the whole matter is on his shoulders. It is, to Shisui, completely unacceptable.

So he caves in, and tells them his side of the story. Both of them stay silent as he tells them about the years of working as double agents, working to keep both the village and the clan safe.

He tells them about Danzō, and how they together had devised the plan of manipulating the Clan Elders using his eyes. And then, he tells them of Itachi’s discovery that the village elder had his own plans regarding Shisui’s eyes.

It is quite clear that the two of them had not heard this amount of the story. Genma’s eyebrows are approaching his hairline, and Raidō is sitting perfectly still, with a pensive look of his face.

“So,” he finishes, “my problem is that I have no idea if Itachi’s plan of me staying away from the conflict is the right course of action. He just sounded so  _ sure _ …” Shisui brings his hands up to rub at his eyes, feeling tired beyond measure. If someone had offered him an easy out, an end-all option, he actually isn’t sure he wouldn’t have jumped at the chance.

The other two are silent. Genma has set down his bowl, and is gazing at Shisui thoughtfully. Raidō is still sitting in the exact same position as before.

“There seems to be a lot in the works,” Genma comments finally, and he puts a hand in his pocket to retrieve a senbon. The weapon goes into his mouth, and he chews on it as he seems to be gathering his thoughts.

“It does sound like this Itachi guy has a lot figured out, though,” the man continues.

Shisui frowns, because that isn’t actually what he wants to hear. It sounds a lot like his own thoughts up until just a few days ago.

“Currently, you do have a plan, and a mission,” Raidō breaks in, and Shisui’s head swivels to look at him. “The priority is that a revolt is curbed. However, once that is in the works, the next priority is for Konoha’s assets to remain with the village.”

It takes him a moment to piece together what the man is saying. By then, he is continuing.

“The most important thing you need to worry about, Shisui, is the mission that the Hokage gave you. You are an important asset to this village, and it is your duty to make sure you do not end up somewhere Konoha can’t make use of you.”

It was harsh, yet amazingly simple. Shisui would never look at the world in such a cold and calculating manner, but that did not mean that he didn’t feel relieved at hearing the words. It is a terrifying weight, the imagined mass of the world resting on your shoulders. 

“Have you ever considered becoming a therapist, Raidō?” he asks, and is glad to feel the atmosphere of the room lessen in density as Genma chuckles.

“He would totally scare off any ninja with commitment issues,” Genma counters, smirking towards his flatmate. “Which is close to all of them, I think.”

“If so, I would have scared you off long ago,” comes the answer, and Shisui can’t help but burst out laughing as Genma puffs up in feigned offense.

The two continue to throw playful insults, and Shisui relaxes into the couch. He can feel his heartbeat slowing down, and a pleasant daze sinks over him as his thoughts start to drift.


	5. Vigil

Despite the Uchiha heir’s intentions, he had very little time left over to spend with his brother. An infiltration mission kept him out of the village for the better part of two weeks, and after that his father was eager to pull him back into clan matters.

By this time, two Uchiha had started training for hospital duty. One had been stationed at the mission delegation office. Lastly, there was now also an Uchiha assisting with the teaching at the academy. 

From Itachi’s point of view, the tension in the clan has fallen drastically. The Uchiha clan seems to have collectively let out its held breath. When he sees them, they don’t look as ready for action, as if they are expecting at any moment to be called on for a revolt.

Yet, that does not make him any less wary. 

Unfortunately, he has little time to breathe himself. He steps out from a clan meeting, and is immediately met with a courier nin, who is being carefully watched by the compound guards.

Itachi knows the girl by her looks, even if she changes them regularly. He’s being called in for another mission.

He receives the scroll with a small bow of his head, and she instantly flits off. Itachi can see Atsuko clutch the kunai she’s holding a bit tighter. The guards are, however, used enough to the couriers coming and going. That does not mean that Uchiha let foreign ninja out of their sights while they are inside the compound.

Pocketing the missive, which only holds a meeting point, he goes to get his gear. The clothes and weapon holders go on with little thought, sliding onto their customary places on his body like a second skin.

Then he goes briefly to the living room, where his family is gathering for dinner.

“I’m going on a mission. I don’t expect to be back tonight,” he says, and gives no other explanation. He receives a nod from his father, and observes a sad pout on his brother’s face.

“But you promised we were gonna train tonight!” Sasuke complains. Itachi can’t help that his lips twitch into a smile.

“Later, Sasuke,” he just replies, and goes to put two fingers to Sasuke’s forehead. His brother tries to bat him off, a frown knitting his brow together.

Then he’s off, quickly making his way out of the compound and down the streets of Konoha. His feet are filled with chakra, and his sharingan is swirling in his irises.

This is the only reason that he narrowly avoids a strike to his neck. The street he’s in is straight and slim, merely a border between two neighbouring blocks. Before him stand three ninja, and he’s sure there are at least five at his back. All are wearing porcelain masks.

Then a man steps into the street before him, and Itachi straightens slightly from his battle-ready stance.

“Fast as always, Itachi-kun,” the deep voice of one of the Konoha elders vibrates through the darkness.

Itachi’s eyesight sharpens even further, and he can feel the inborn ability calling on him. With difficulty he restrains the urge, as Danzō meets his gaze directly.

“I hear that you have chosen to abandon your mission. I gave you a clear choice, and it seems you have given your answer,” the man says, and a sneer is curling his lips as Itachi sees his chakra go into his arms in preparation. “Your brother will die with the rest of your loathsome clan!”

Danzō must have thought his own sharingan would save him. Itachi is ready to prove him wrong.

It is stark relief to let go of his control. His eyes spin, and he and Danzō are suddenly alone in the street.

“What-” and Itachi is there, kunai twisting into the man’s right arm, just where Danzō knows his implanted eye to be. With his other arm he lashes out, but Itachi is gone, and the street is empty.

Danzō’s shouts echo. He turns around, his panic is coating the air in a thick layer and everything is telling him to run. So he does, through street upon street until he meets trees, and he climbs up, up, up, until the whole of Konoha is behind him. The panic resides, there is relief, surety, because Itachi must have fled instead of pursuing-

A beast of death and flames comes out of the darkness, and he is retreating from the edge, yet it isn’t him it’s there for-

The monster is crushing the academy, flames are trailing from its large hands, Konoha is burning, his village is burning, and he reaches to unfurl his bandages to do  _ something _ -

His body is frozen, the fear is ice in his veins even as the warmth reaches him from the burning buildings, even Senju Hashirama’s trees have caught fire, and the horizon is one single sea of curling, black flames-

“I did as you asked, Danzō-sama,” a voice speaks coldly from behind him. He whirls around.

“My clan is dead, just as you ordered.” Itachi’s wearing a white mask, similar to his Root soldiers in every way, even in the lack of emotion in his voice -

“No! You foolish- You can’t have- How!” he howls, and his knees meet the ground as the despair grips him tightly. There has only ever been one thing he fought for, that he lived for, and now it is up in flames.

The boy before him walks closer. Though he can’t see Itachi’s face, he can see a cruel smile curling on the white mask-

There is a kunai sticking out of his shoulder, white hot pain as it sinks into the sensitive nerves, and then another, entering his stomach and cutting into his intestines, another slamming into his skull, yet he can still feel the next one, his spine bending to get away-

-

Itachi blinks, and swirls to block a kunai going for his throat. A sword comes shortly thereafter, and he meets it with a wrist guard, before smashing his elbow into and through the ninja’s mask. The person goes down, bleeding from where the blow has caved their face in. Another is whipping a chain at him, and he twitches backward so that it passes him, going into the chest of the one he just killed.

Senbon fly through the air, and he clears the street with a jump, latching onto the edge of the roof and rolling over it in time to hear kunai hit the edge he has just cleared. One even goes flying past his head, and he’s already moving, clearing the roof with another leap.

They are not in pursuit, he muses as he slows down several streets later.

Adrenaline pumping through his body, he runs back home.

He will not let Root get there before him.

When he comes home, however, nothing seems out of the ordinary. Daichi and one of the clan’s jounins are lounging by the gate, idly chattering. They jump to alertness as he arrives in a blur.

It takes him a couple of seconds to catch his breath.

“I want you on high alert. Daichi, find two more jounin- get Mikoto and Aika, and bring one of them with you to patrol the walls while sending the other to join Kazuo immediately.

“Kazuo,” the man in question straightens up attentively, “if anyone approaches, sound the alarm. I do not care if they look completely harmless. I want you on high alert,” Itachi repeats, and then strides away immediately. The two give each other a confused look, before Daichi runs of to do as ordered.

When Itachi bursts into the house, Fugaku is already coming to meet him.

“What’s going on?” but Itachi ignores him.

“Go and join up with Daichi, mother,” he tells her, and he can see her starting to speak, before she sees his swirling sharingan and merely nods. With that, she disappears into her bedroom, coming out seconds later in full gear.

“Sasuke is in bed,” she mentions before slipping out the door. Itachi nods, and goes to check on him.

His brother is sleeping peacefully, his arms and legs curled around his pillow and his blanket pushed to the end of the fuuton. Itachi allows himself a small smile before closing the door again.

The face that meets him as he turns around is thunderous. If he doesn’t tell his father what happened soon, Itachi is quite sure the man might throttle him himself.

“I got attacked. However, I would like to share the full circumstance with the council,” he says, and observes as his father as his rage fades into cold calculation.

“Tell me first,” the clan leader demands. Itachi bows his head and obliges.

“Tonight, I was sent a missive to meet up for a mission in a side street inside the village. Going there, I was ambushed by Root. Leading them was Shimura Danzō.”

He can see his father straightening imperceptibly, eyes narrowing and chakra swirling angrily, and realizes that he still has his sharingan activated. Belatedly, he turns them off. The corridor is much darker than he formerly thought.

“He came to me with a proposition. If I killed the clan, he would let Sasuke live. I refused, and so he attacked me, and tried to steal my eyes.”

Even without the sharingan, Itachi can see the anger in every little movement his father makes. The downward slant of his lips, the clenched fist, the tense shoulders.

“So I used Tsukuyomi on him. I did not have the opportunity to kill him, however, because I was surrounded by his agents. Since he spoke of killing the clan, I returned here immediately, in case his agents had been ordered to kill the clan while I was busy dealing with him,” Itachi recounts.

“You have-?” but his father seems to shake himself out of his shock, and his entire demeanour changes back to clan leader and jounin.

Fugaku turns, and Itachi follows him as he marches outside.

The compound is still peaceful, though many Uchiha heads are sticking out of doors and windows. News has spread quickly, and the entire clan should now be alert and ready.

So now they wait, and see what Danzō has in store for them.

///

The morning seems completely normal.

Sasuke wakes up, and gets out of bed with a yawn and a stretch. He dresses in his weekend clothes, which are a bit more comfortable than his ninja gear. A blue high-collared shirt, and a pair of plain black pants.

As he pads down the hall, bare feet making minimal noise on the tatami mats, he wonders at how quiet the house is. With a frown, he takes a look into the kitchen, only to find it abandoned. He makes his way over to his father’s office, but there is no one there either.

It shouldn’t be so late that everyone has had breakfast without him. And his mother never goes out shopping before breakfast. His brother was going on a mission, so he probably wouldn’t be home yet, but for them all to be gone…

Sasuke opens the outside door. There are four guards at the gate, but no other Uchiha in sight.

There is only one place all the Uchiha go together, so Sasuke walks over to the council hall, trying to avoid the guards’ eyesight.

He knows that if they knew where he was going, they would never let him. Only important Uchiha were allowed on the meetings, and even if he was the son of the leader, that apparently didn’t matter.

The door to the hall is open, and he settles there, voices flowing through the thin walls.

“... We can’t just let something like this go! An attack on our clan heir is an attack on us!”

“The Hokage himself must have planned this! Danzō is right below him, there is no way that the Sandaime didn’t know about it!”

“We have integrated ourselves well enough! I say we go for it, and bring down this wretched system once and for all!”

The voices are all angry, and a bit hard to understand as they talk almost at the same time. Yet Sasuke can’t help the feeling of dread. His clan is planning something scary, and it must be the reason why they’re all in there now!

“Silence!” Sasuke hears his father’s voice, ringing out over the yells of the others.

“Itachi, you fought head on with Danzō. Tell them what kind of state you left him.”

Sasuke jumps as he hears his brother’s name, and strains to hear, even as a shiver takes him when he hears the cold tone Itachi’s voice has taken.

“I put Danzō under a strong genjutsu, one that will not leave his mind intact. A second will feel like weeks of torture to him, and he is certainly not going to be a threat to us any time soon.

“Furthermore,” he speaks loudly, as people start muttering again, “I have information that will bring him down once and for all. The Hokage won’t be given the option to show leniency to him again.”

Shouts break out. Among them, Sasuke catches “tsuk- but you don’t have the sight!”, “again!?” and again other voices saying he doesn’t have the authority to make that kind of decision on their behalf.

Even while hearing all this, Sasuke’s mind sticks to one particular thing his brother had said: “weeks of torture”. His brother had tortured someone. His brother had broken someone’s mind.

And yet, perhaps what hurt the most about all of this, was that his brother was involved in something big, and he hadn’t included Sasuke.

He was important too! He’d even gotten a mission and everything! So why didn’t his brother bring him with?

“Sasuke-kun,” a voice whispers, and Sasuke looks up and into the face of Kazuo, his mother’s cousin. He scrambles to his feet immediately, eyes big because he isn’t sure if the jounin would actually punish him, and if he did it might  _ really _ hurt!

An apology is on his lips, but before he can speak it, the man has a finger over his mouth. Then he gets pulled outside, the fresh morning air hitting his face with unexpected force.

“Hey,” Kazuo says, and he’s kneeling in front of him, “this is a matter for us grown-ups. Your mother will be really disappointed if she saw you here, Sasuke-kun,” he finishes, and Sasuke nods solemnly. He feels tears at the edge of his eyes but doesn’t let them run, because he’s  _ big _ , and maybe not a grown-up, but he definitely won’t cry!

The jounin stands up again, and seems about to usher him off. Sasuke has to interrupt him though.

“Is nii-san alright?” He asks, and can see the man’s face go a bit softer at the question.

“Yes. Your nii-san is very strong, so he’ll be fine. You should worry about yourself instead!” and then Sasuke gets his hair ruffled, and then he gets pushed towards his house.

Feeling like his feet are blocks of sand, he moves sluggishly back home. When he gets there, he takes off his sandals and moves to the kitchen. He knows his mother might scold him if he hasn’t eaten by the time she comes back. So he’ll show her! He can be a grown-up as well, making his own breakfast!

Eggs are on the counter, and he can just barely reach them when standing on his tiptoes. The pan is easier, because it’s already placed on the cooking plates. He gets the eggshell open and the egg in the pan, and then he goes to put on the rice cooker.

Cutting tomatoes almost results in him cutting his fingers, because they are really hard to cut into at first. While the knife goes smoothly through the juicy core, it takes some effort to get through the skin. He gives up halfway through cutting, figuring that having a tomato in three pieces is good enough.

He puts the fruit on top of his rice, and then the egg on top of that.

Staring at his breakfast for a moment, he feels a twinge of pride. His first breakfast! That’ll show them.

He’s halfway through the rice with no egg or tomato left when his brother comes into the kitchen.

“Aniki!” he shouts in surprise, and almost chokes on his current bite of rice.

Looking at his brother, though, Sasuke immediately sees the exhaustion on his face. Itachi’s hair is almost loose from its normal ponytail, and there are big dark bags under his eyes. There is also something weird with how he walks, but Sasuke can’t really tell what.

Sasuke, like the great brother that he is, jumps off his pillow and offers it to Itachi.

“You can have the rest of my rice!” he says, and looks at his brother sternly. Said brother releases a breath that sounds a bit like a chuckle, and actually sits down on the pillow Sasuke leapt off.

Immediately he sits down on another pillow, and stares at Itachi as he takes a bite of rice.

“Thank you, Sasuke. It’s delicious.” The smile that follows makes him straighten up, puffing his chest out in pride.

His father and mother comes in as well. Sasuke looks at them, but they don’t look as tired as his brother, so he doesn’t offer them any rice.

“I’m glad you ate already, Sasuke. I was a bit afraid…” but his mother trails off, and Sasuke frowns up at her. She only shakes her head.

“It seems you’ll have to watch the house for a bit. We all could do with some sleep,” his mother speaks, and he gives her a solemn nod back. Of course he’ll watch out while they sleep!

Silence falls in the kitchen. His father has already gone right past, and gone to the bedroom. Sasuke turns his gaze to his clasped hands, and frowns down at them.

“Umm…” he starts. It says something about her tiredness that his mother doesn’t chide him for improper speech. “What happened?”

Looking between Itachi and his mom, he’s quite sure that he won’t get an explanation.

“I got attacked last night. So there’s going to be a bit of tension in the clan while we deal with it,” his brother explains, and Sasuke stares at him in surprise.

When his eyes flick over to his mother, he can see that she’s giving Itachi that same look.

Sasuke stands up, and they both turn their gazes towards him.

“Alright! Then if you got attacked, that means you really need to rest! So go sleep, and I will clean up the bowl,” he orders.

A second goes while they both stare at him. Then, as one, they both break out laughing.

Sasuke feels very offended, and lets them know by glaring at them.

However, his brother  _ does _ actually go to bed without cleaning the bowl, so Sasuke counts it as a victory.

///

“I am kind of surprised,” Hatake Kakashi admits amiably from behind his dog-like mask, “I never would have thought you the type for merry get-togethers,” he says, as a stick of dango disappears faster than Itachi would be able to see without turning on his sharingan.

Ahead of him sits Tenzō, ramrod straight except for the slight bend of his neck. Itachi is quite sure the man is watching him intensely.

“I thought it might be time to try out something new,” he responds dryly, while his hand flickers through the signs “ _ secret _ ” “ _ investigation _ ” “ _ Danzō _ ” “ _ kids _ ”.

Outwardly, the two ninja opposite him don’t react. Itachi picks up his own stick, and makes the balls of dough disappear in a similar fashion to Kakashi.

“So you’ve decided not to be a stick in the mud,” the copy-nin responds, but what might have passed as a joke on another day now sounds more like a reproach.

Itachi cycles through four more signs, “ _ need _ ” “ _ names _ ” “ _ clan _ ” “ _ kids _ ”, while retorting “I don’t see you calling him out on his stick.”

He points towards Tenzō, and gets a dark glower through the slits of the mask in response.

“He’s grown so much. Challenging his elders and everything,” Kakashi says and wipes a metaphorical tear beneath the eye of his mask. When the hand lifts, Itachi sees “ _ me _ ” “ _ home _ ” and “ _ meet up _ ”.

Itachi responds with a sigh, and shakes his head as he gets up. The dango are already gone, and he has plenty to do before the day’s over.

“I think I overestimated how much fun you guys were going to be,” he says, and reaches into his pocket for a few coins in order to pay his share. As he lays the coins on the table he signs a meeting time, before walking out of the joint.

The streets are full of people at this point, it is one of the busiest times of the day. Even so, nobody even blinks as he flickers away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was actually going to contain more, or you would have gotten it days ago. Read through it now though, and figured it would be enough. So I hope that's true!
> 
> Do you like that chapters have summaries, or prefer for them not to? Personally, I try not to read the summaries of the individual chapters, because I don't want to spoil the chapter I am just about to read.
> 
> Also, I must say! Thank you all for commenting and enjoying this fic! It wouldn't be written without you guys, I'm quite sure. I really enjoy your comments, and they make me want to write more! So thank you for inspiring me!


	6. Doll's Eyes

One second, they were getting ready for an assault.

Even though there is a mass of bodies, all ranging in height and age, there is barely any sound in the large room. A quiet shuffle here, a blade being sharpened there. If one lacked eyesight, it was possible to assume that there was barely half a dozen people occupying the space.

In truth, there might be close to a hundred. Every mask is different, but the type of movement and the lack of sound is eerily alike.

Shin takes a moment to glance around, even as his comrades stare blankly ahead. There is no sign of their leader, and he’s certain that’s an anomaly, in the same way that he’s sure that the higher ranking officers present are feeling something that might resemble nervousness. They would never act on it, because their conditioning is such that they will always fear repercussions of any emotion they might have. That does not make their tension less apparent, though.

There is a loud sound, and a door slams open. More than one agent flinches where they stand, and Shin fears for the beating they might get later. Or worse; the mission.

Their leader steps out in front of them. He can see immediately that something has gone wrong. The training they gave him made sure that he notices the strangeness in Danzō’s gait, the way he holds his arm, the wild flickering of his gaze. Were he on a mission, these would be signs that Shin should pounce his enemy. If he didn’t know he would die in the attempt, having gained nothing, he might have taken the opportunity.

As it is, he remains straight and steady, like the perfect little soldier that he is.

“My children,” their leader starts, and Shin can feel his body’s reaction to the words. All hidden behind the mask, but he tamps down on them nonetheless. He can let out whatever emotions he’s feeling later, in the darkness he shares with his friend. It is no time to let the mask slip.

“I have found out that there’s a rot, spreading through my network of Roots. I have become too docile, and in my lack of attention you have all become soft.

“Therefore, I need you to prove your worth to me. That you are willing to cut away the rot, so the tree can flourish.”

A moment of silence, a mass of pure tension.

Then their leader raises his hand, and written in the position of his fingers is a single word: “ _ kill _ ”.

It feels like his feet have melted into the floor. There is a ringing in his head, and he realizes it is a warning, just in time to duck beneath a tantō’s narrow arch. The silence ends, and there is the clashing of metal and gasps of pain echoing throughout the room.

Shin grabs the boy in front of him, who has already gotten his kunai out.

“Evade and escape through entrance 2.5.K,” he whispers into the boy’s ear, and whirls around with a sword on his own. Someone saves him from a punch, because the hand falters only a hand’s width from his face. In turn, he gets a spray of blood against his mask, as a kunai pierces the person’s neck artery.

It is hard to orientate in the dense crowd. It is thinning by the second, however, as more and more get cut down. Sai is gone, and Shin can only hope-

There is no time to hope much of anything, as a chain entangles around his leg. It has blades along its ridges, and he can feel it tearing through his achilles with little effort. Before it cuts through his entire foot he steps on the chain with his other, successfully pinning it to the ground. This gives him the chance to put his sword through the opponent’s neck.

The chain loosens, but his leg is entirely ruined. He pushes chakra into both feet, ignoring how it feels like he’s walking on a mere stump, and launches himself across the room.

At the exit he meets the guards sword first, and stabs one through the stomach before he properly lands and crumbles to his knees.

He won’t get his sword up to meet the other one in time. He tries nonetheless, and is surprised when the person falls on his blade. Like a puppet with its strings cut.

The body inevitably falls on top of him, and he shrugs it off as he raises his gaze.

A white mask stares down at him, and he reaches out to meet the hand coming towards him.

With a heave of the small body before him, he’s up, and leaning on slight shoulders as they push their way through the door.

Behind them, Danzō isn’t even looking at them. He’s not looking at the carnage at all.

///

Hatake Kakashi’s apartment is as nondescript as Itachi has imagined. While he has never been to his captain’s living quarters before, it was not impossible to extrapolate that the ninja either lived in his family’s own compound, or had abandoned the place for an easier residence.

Except for a few books placed in a pile on the living room table, the room is completely empty of unnecessary items. Unsurprising, as Hatake goes on more missions than Itachi himself does. Little time to spend in the apartment, and as such decorating becomes of little importance.

Kakashi closes the door, and Itachi turns towards the man with no thought given to pleasantries.

“I am bringing Root down, and as such need your assistance.”

His Captain nods after a brief pause, but the lines around his eye are harsh, and it is clear that it is not exactly a desired topic. It makes Itachi wonder whether leading up to the topic might have been better, after all.

“And you believe you have a way of doing that?” Kakashi answers, and his tone is so scathing that it opens for the possibility that he has made a misstep somewhere. From what Itachi had formerly gleaned, the man would welcome the opportunity to bring Danzō to justice.

“Yes. However, I would need the names of the clan children recruited by Root, and I believe Tenzō is the most likely to know them.” 

Itachi can see the snarl even through the black mask covering the man’s mouth. If he wanted to make Kakashi mad, he had certainly found a way to do so.

How unfortunate that this kind of reaction was the exact thing that could ruin his plans. In the future, Itachi would have had no reason to be on this particular person’s good side. So he had never really bothered to figure out what made the man at ease.

“Tenzō will take no part in whatever plot you’re enacting, Uchiha. That is an order, and if you try to include him in any way, I will no longer be your captain.” The Hatake looks as though he’s threatening to kill, and perhaps for him it would be the same thing.

It was seen as a very serious matter, if your captain does not want you on their team. ANBU are professionals in every sense of the word, and for something to come between a captain and their teammate, it must be personal.

Itachi takes the threat in stride. It is not like he would have stayed in ANBU much longer, either way. Once clan matters are solved and the village is stabilized, Itachi imagines he will have his hands full reforming the clan and Konoha into something more well-functioning.

Though in this conversation, he deigns to think that this tidbit of information will not better the current tension.

“The matter is beyond my service to this village. Danzō plans to massacre my clan, and in the process he will also lay claim to any body or eye that he fancies,” and Itachi can’t help but let the anger soak into the tone of his voice. Kakashi’s eye widens in surprise, and it’s clear that while Itachi has grown used to the idea, the rest of the world hasn’t.

There is even disgust written in that tilt of the brow, Itachi muses. Perhaps due to Kakashi’s past experience when it comes to stolen Sharingans.

Even so, there is no doubt. No “ _ he wouldn’t _ ” forthcoming. Itachi gives the man a moment to process the thought, before he starts again.

“So, you might understand that I can not stand by idly and let it happen,” he says, and thinks briefly on how changed the outcome already is.

Were he to let it happen, it still wouldn’t end as it had. He could disappear right now, and Danzō might manage to kill the clan. He might not. Either way, it would no longer be a massacre by the young genius. Not a teenage rebellion gone too far. It would be genocide, brought on by the village leaders themselves.

No clan in Konoha would be able to let that stand.

“I do understand. And I will try to assist you. However, my order stands,” Kakashi says, and it’s apparent that he won’t budge.

It could still work. It all depends on how far entrenched in Root his captain had actually been.  

“And the names?” he asks, and watches as Kakashi goes and retrieves a scroll. It gets rolled out across the table, and then his captain starts writing.

After five names, Itachi realizes that Kakashi might have been a bit more than just “involved”.

After twenty, it starts to dawn on him that his superior might have been planning to make use of those names all along.

He had just never gotten the chance to, the first time around.

///

Fugaku thinks, sitting in the middle of Hyuuga Hiashi’s receiving room, that he has seen entirely too much of this particular clan lately.

A young girl comes over to the table, and pours them tea with her eyes demurely turned down. Fugaku sees her forehead, and bites down the temptation to positively snarl in disgust.

When his eldest had asked him to pay the Hyuuga a visit, Fugaku had trouble finding an outlet for his indignation. There was absolutely nothing that could make him visit the other clan’s compound, he was sure, and the simple suggestion of it made a foul taste linger in his mouth.

Of course, “nothing” did not contain saving his clan. Apparently, this was a way to do it.

If it worked, Fugaku would have to review the responsibilities he had already given Itachi. Perhaps the boy was ready to handle even more, for recently it seemed like he positively thrived under the pressure. 

“What do I owe this pleasure, Fugaku-san?” Hiashi speaks, unfailingly polite. If they hadn’t traded insults plenty a time before, Fugaku might have even thought the man was glad to have him.

“I’m afraid it is a serious matter that has brought me here, Hiashi-san,” he replies, and takes a sip of his tea. Scaldingly hot, and Fugaku appreciates how it burns his throat on the way down.

The other clan head gives him silence, waiting for him to continue.

“It has come to my attention that a certain person in this village is stealing eyes,” he utters. Hiashi’s eyes widen, and Fugaku takes pleasure in surprising the man even as he feels the gravity of the situation. 

“The man has already managed to steal a Sharingan, and though it is not a recent acquisition, there have been plots to acquire many,  _ many _ more in the following year.

“This person had planned to massacre my entire clan, and if it weren’t for my son, he might even have succeeded.”

Hiashi’s face has become a mask of stone, his eyes staring blankly at Fugaku. He doesn’t think he imagines that there is rage reflected in those pale eyes, because there is not many other emotions that Hiashi would have cared to hide that well from him.

“Who is it?” the man asks, and his voice is lower than before, and in that moment Fugaku is convinced that his son was right. Hiashi was indeed a good choice of ally, especially because the Hokage wouldn’t be able to close his ears to the leaders of Konoha’s two greatest clans.

“Shimura Danzō,” Fugaku tells him.

Hiashi nods. Then, abruptly, he gets to his feet.

“If you would like to accompany me, Fugaku-dono, to the Hokage’s office.”

Fugaku let’s on a small quirk of the lips, and stands to follow.

///

In the weeks gone by, Uchiha Shisui has been deathly anxious about the general fate of the village.

It all comes to a head when he sees the Uchiha and the Hyuuga clan leader enter the Hokage’s office together.

Fifteen different explanations run through his mind, all similarly horrible and implausible. Could the Uchiha really have gotten in a huge conflict with the Hyuuga, in the middle of it all? Could Fugaku have allowed that to happen, with the tension as it already is?

It is no secret that the two clan leaders well and properly despise each other. Shisui glances at Raidō, and nods when the nin signals “ _ ready for action _ ”. He leans down, his hand on the seal that will allow him access to the Hokage’s office.

He has only used it once before, when a merchant had approached the Hokage with his fists raised and voice loud. Then, it had only been to appear beside the Hokage, more as an intimidation tactic than because the merchant was any sort of threat.

Now, he’s certain that if it comes to blows, it will not be cowed by the Hokage’s guards looking scary. The two clan heads are two of the top jounin in the village. Shisui would be hard pressed to beat either of them alone, and even further so to cause no harm to them while doing so.

“Hokage-sama,” Fugaku greets, and it is a tone of hardened steel and quiet animosity. Shisui tenses in preparation, even if a cordial greeting should mean the Uchiha head has not come there for violence.

Then again, if he had managed to recruit the Hyuuga into joining the coup…

It seemed even more impossible than any other theory, but if it was true, it would be a disaster.

He will have to use his eyes, Shisui realizes. And on the clan heads no less.

“We come to demand that you incarcerate Shimura Danzō, effective immediately,” the Uchiha calmly states, and Shisui has to pull back his chakra so he won’t activate the seal involuntarily. What?

The Hokage is returning Fugaku’s intense gaze steadily, waiting for him to continue.

“The man has orchestrated an attack on my clan, and attempted to steal my son’s eyes. It is not only a crime against fellow shinobi, but also treason against the village.”

The Sandaime isn’t moving. Shisui can imagine it is a hard place to stand, balancing the kunai’s edge like this.

“Do you have any proof?” the man finally utters, and his tone is resigned.

Shisui looks to Fugaku, expecting to see triumph there. Instead, he notices a slight trembling in the man’s shoulders, his body tense as if it takes effort to keep himself standing there.

Then the Hokage leaps to his feet, as a senbon appears from nowhere in the clan head’s neck.

“Tonbo, Yagi, pursuit!” Raidō shouts, and Shisui swiftly move from his seal to the wall the direction of which the senbon must have come from. In a flash of chakra he’s through, scanning with his sharingan as his shunshin carries him to the next roof over.

A flick of his gaze and he’s oriented himself to Genma, who already has his senbon at the ready.

His eyes scan the surrounding area, and his eyes only barely catch the remnants of a kage bunshin, two roofs over.

With another flash he’s there. He drags the air in through his mouth, tasting it in an attempt to map the smell of the person to his memory. His eyes catch the remnants of chakra, but there is too little to say whether it’s a person he knows.

Genma is kneeling on the ground, probably looking for any sort of footprint.

It is a solid roof, though, and any shinobi should be able to keep their prints off the ceramic tiles.

Something doesn’t make sense, though. It should have been impossible to bring a senbon from this distance into the Hokage’s office with sufficient force, as it would be severely slowed down by the barriers around the office.

And then, at that point, the clan head would have easily been able to avoid the single projectile. Unless he was already weakened by something, of course.

Shisui thinks of the shaking of the man’s body, and then it hits him that the leader of his clan might actually be dead, now.

He turns toward Genma, who’s facing towards the Hokage’s office.

“It wasn’t thrown from here,” the man says, and Shisui follows his gaze to the Hokage’s windows. From here, you can’t see anything through the big panes of glass. He knows that there would be a clear shot at the clan head from here, but when he revises the way the senbon had appeared, it doesn’t actually seem to be from the same trajectory.

“There was someone here, though. To watch? Or could they have sent it through the wall some other way?” Shisui’s thoughts run to the possibility of space-time ninjutsu, which is the closest to a probable way he can think of someone making a senbon fly through a window and still hit.

With no impact on the window itself, he notices once they run closer again. There isn’t a scratch on the pane of glass.

He follows Genma inside, this time going through the front door and through administration.

“There is a trace. We should get an Inuzuka in to follow it,” Genma reports once they are inside the office once more. Hiashi spares them no glance, though Shisui is sure he is already looking at them with how the veins around his eyes are bulging.

“Tokage, gather a team to keep guard of the Uchiha compound. Tell them about the death of their Clan Head, and make sure nothing further happens,” the Hokage orders, his voice cold. He is standing by the body, and has no doubt assured himself of Fugaku’s status while Shisui and Genma went out.

“Tonbo, with me. Yagi, bring in whoever you need to start pursuit of the perpetrator. Hato, I want you to gather a team to apprehend Shimura Danzō. Alive.”

There are several nods from the guards around the room, and all except for him disappear with no further ado.

Shisui is almost glad he gets to stay with the Hokage. While it means he has to stare his dead relative in the face, he also knows that there is a big chance of someone recognizing him on all the missions his fellow guards have been sent on.

If his so called mission even matters now that Fugaku is dead, that is.

Hopefully he will be allowed to go home soon. He imagines that Itachi will need his assistance with the clan, now that he suddenly has the responsibility for the whole of it.

Oh Kami, his friend is the new clan head now.


	7. In Motion

Inoichi is furious. He is absolutely, mind-numbingly livid. There is not even an attempt from his side to bring the murderous chakra he’s exuding to heel as he storms the administration office.

His full intention is to further raze down the Hokage’s office door. On his way to do just that, however, he finds his way blocked by two of his fellow jounin. Shibi and Shikaku are leaning against the double doors. He feels a rising suspicion that he isn’t the only person Uchiha Itachi has had a “chat” with. Inoichi meets Shikaku’s gaze, wondering if the man is actually here to stop him.

The resolve in those eyes tells him that in all likelihood they are on the same side of this matter. When he looks over at Shibi, he’s not even surprised to see that normally emotionless face of his curved in a deep scowl.

“I assume you’ve also been approached,” he inquires, as he feels someone approaching down the hall. He turns to see one of the chuunin from the mission assignment desk, observing them from a distance. No doubt ready to take action if they’re planning some sort of mutiny.

Inoichi would commend the man for his sharpness if he wasn’t so intent on the task at hand. Perhaps later.

“Shibi was. I’m just here to make sure you don’t take down the entire village as a result,” Shikaku responds, his hands going to his pockets as he leans against the wall.

Only years of knowing the man lets Inoichi notice how battle-ready the Nara is. He’s sure he hasn’t seen his friend like this since that Hyuuga kid got kidnapped.

“Chouza coming?” he wonders, and directs his gaze to the closed door to the office. Perhaps it would be better to gather allies, before storming in with chakra blazing.

“He’s out on a mission. What I do know is that Fugaku and Hiashi came here a few hours ago. Also, the Hokage isn’t in there,” Shikaku says, and Inoichi grumbles in response.

“So where is he?” 

Shikaku shrugs. Inoichi’s brows lift in disbelief.

“Administration didn’t actually see them leave. Which means that whatever happened, it was a serious matter.”

“We decided to wait. Why you ask? Because the Hokage is most likely to return here after the matter has been settled.”

Inoichi nods in response to the Aburame clan head, and leans against the wall beside his former teammate.

Waiting for the Sandaime to return will let him calm down. It is not a thing he particularly wants to do, but at the very least he now has allies who seem to want the same thing he does. To bring Shimura Danzō to justice once and for all, and hopefully bring the children he had abducted safely back home.

Inoichi lets his eyes settle on Shibi again, and ponders the child that he has lost to Root. From what he can remember, one of Shibi’s own children had been recruited, not too long ago.

As he is watching the man, he notices Shibi’s head suddenly twitch upwards. There is a crescendo of buzzing in the air, and when Inoichi focuses on the sound, he distinguishes another buzzing not far off.

A lone beetle comes whizzing through the air, and settles on Shibi’s outstretched finger. It takes less than a second for the Aburame to leap forwards, disappearing out of the hallway in a rush. Inoichi spares Shikaku a glance, and with a simple nod they both jump to motion as well.

Though Shibi is already long gone, they take a guess and arrive at the Aburame compound soon after. There they find him, standing in front of three kids.

One is obviously his own, with the high collar and dark glasses. The other two are clearly not.

The biggest of the children has shoulder length, grey hair. He holds himself with a false ease that Inoichi sees all too often in their infiltration specialists. The ability to look relaxed while you’re ready to leap at a moment’s notice is usually not something one sees in shinobi of this age, which means that Inoichi keeps an eye on him even as his attention goes to the other boy.

This one has short, dark hair. He is standing slightly behind the older, his hand clutching a kunai and his sharp gaze flitting between the different people. It has clearly put him on edge that Inoichi and Shikaku also appeared, and it makes him look around for other threats as he surveys the area.

“They came here saying that they know Torune.”

Inoichi flicks his gaze over to the Aburame clan heir at this statement. Shino is just as emotionless in outward expression as his father, though the faint sound of bugs makes it clear that he’s upset. The insects that inhabit the boy have even deemed the situation serious enough to come out from their hiding place. They are crawling up the boys face, in his hair, and several are flying around his head.

Shibi turns his head towards the older of the boys.

“Is this true?” he asks, and the boy nods.

“Sai,” he just says. The smaller kid steps forward, his eyes resolutely meeting Shibi’s hidden gaze.

“I have been trained together with Aburame Torune. Though that isn’t what they call him, he told me his name once. He also told me about you, and why he joined Root.”

While this kid is also quite emotionless, it is obvious that his training hasn’t gotten as far as the other’s. 

“Perhaps we better go somewhere else to hear the full story?” Inoichi shoots in, before Shibi has gathered himself enough to reply. The three boys all look at him, while Shibi keeps staring at the two Root children.

“No. There is something going on, and you better check it out immediately. D-” the boy gags, and holds his hand up to stop the three adults from coming towards him. Inoichi looks at Shikaku, and sees that the man is as ready for action as he is.

Then the boy collapses to his knees, and no hand waving in the world could stop Inoichi from grabbing him. It’s apparent now that the kid’s leg is in pieces. There is cloth wrapped around it, but blood has started to seep through the bindings.

“You should have told us you were injured,” he chides, struggling to decide whether to address the boy as a comrade or as a child. Either way, the leg needs fixing.

“Sai. Do you know where the entrance is?” Shikaku asks from behind Inoichi. He sees the child nod, a grave expression on his face.

“Alright. Inoichi, you stay with this one,” the Nara points to the oldest kid Inoichi is currently holding, exchanging a significant look with him as he does, “Shibi and I will go to Root headquarters.”

Shibi nods, and after giving his son’s shoulder a squeeze, he leaves together with the kid. Shikaku goes with them, and Inoichi is left alone with the two children.

“You should go inside, Shino-kun. We’ll be going to the hospital,” he says, trying to make his voice sound reassuring.

“I want to come with you. Why, do you ask? Because he knows my brother,” the Aburame states calmly, his face turned towards the other kid.

Inoichi just shrugs. It doesn’t really matter if the kid joins him to the hospital.

“Alright, but you’ll have to meet us there. I’m gonna carry him,” he explains, fixing the boy with a gaze that brooks no argument.

The Root agent returns the look with a slight smile, and lets Inoichi hoist him onto his back.

Inoichi starts running, and lets his thoughts fly for the half minute it takes them to get to the hospital.

Something big is obviously going down. If the Hokage’s absence wasn’t enough evidence, Root agents suddenly surfacing certainly is.

It is almost ironic, then, that the first person Inoichi sees after entering the hospital is the Hokage himself.

The man wears a deep frown, which holds much more gravity than usual. 

Inoichi nods in greeting, and resigns himself to a long night.

///

With extreme caution, Sai shows the two Konoha ninja to the doorway that he and Shin had escaped through only minutes before. The opening is a mere crack in the mountain, and almost impossible to see from a distance. Even with the two jounin at his back, his gaze keeps flitting from shadow to shadow, trying to discern human shapes from their depths.

There is only one thing Sai knows for certain. He is not safe. Neither is Shin. The only reason he had even left his brother behind, is because the chance of them being followed in the aftermath of the battle will be much smaller if these men were to go in and cause a ruckus.

His mind snaps to their leader. Danzō would be furious with him, if he knew what Sai was doing. The man would probably kill him, Sai considers as he stops at the deceivingly normal formation of rock.

“Here,” he says, and points at the thin line that shoots upward into the mountain. The opening is big enough for a human, but only barely.

The buzzing man who is related to Torune goes immediately, several bugs escaping his coat and going ahead as he hesitates in front of the entrance. The man turns, and looks at the other jounin for confirmation.

“You should go to the hospital as well,” the guy who is still behind him says. Sai cocks his head, and gives it a brief thought.

“I don’t want to go inside,” he offers, and meets the man’s gaze head on, “but you will need help to find the gathering room. This place was not made to be found.”

Inside, something uncomfortable curls around his guts. It is fear, he remarks to himself, and squashes the feeling to the best of his ability. Shin needs this, and that is more important than any sort of emotion.

The two adults look at each other, and Sai thinks he sees a hand flash through several signs.

Not waiting for them to decide, he climbs through the crack in the rock face. It stays the same size for almost a meter before it widens out, and Sai wonders briefly if the others will be too fat to get through.

Somehow, they both end up getting through without undressing or anything. Sai doesn’t remark on it, but instead starts leading them through the winding corridors and several slim openings.

Very soon, they stand outside the giant door to the gathering hall.

Inside, they’re all dead.

Or at the very least most of them. His gut tightens once more as he sees movement, and someone not that much bigger than him crawling over a pile of bodies. There is more movement, but before Sai has time to see if he knows any of them, he puts a hand on his mouth to stop a wave of vomit from escaping him.

The two ninja are already moving. They have flickered over to the podium, where Sai can see some of Danzō’s guard fighting someone with a mask. Not someone from Root, he recognizes, by the clothes and by the markings on the porcelain. The masked nin also carries their hair in a way that no Root member ever would.

Sai observes as the two guards attempt to end the fight quickly, performing a series of attacks in unison.

The lone ninja seems to be doing fine. Until they don’t, and gets slashed across the arm with a blade.

Looking at the way he entered, Sai makes a choice. He turns, and leaves the way he came. The two he brought should be able to handle the situation just fine. 

Shin might need him.

Before he knows it, he is running.

///

There hadn’t been many moments where Itachi thought he would miss the rough life on the road, always moving from target to target. Yet now, he has set plans into motion, and there is nowhere to go in order to watch them from a distance. The boulder has been set rolling, and he will have to stay in its path.

Through his life, he had always been sure to never be certain. If you act with certainty, you will never plan for all outcomes. The massacre had shown him the mistake of thinking that all would fall into place, when just a single action could set the construction crumbling.

It was one of the things he had learned that had made him such an excellent fit for Akatsuki.

At the same time, it is this way of being that makes his position so very hard to stay in.

There will be an outcome. Whatever happens, that is a surety.

What he has a hard time predicting, is whether the set of events will be enough to force the Hokage into taking action, or if the man will once more do his very best to bury the issue.

All Itachi can do is wait. Evening is approaching, Sasuke is home and safe, and the clan is alert. His mother is looking out of the windows with a frown, because Fugaku has yet to be heard from since he left that morning.

They eat dinner in near silence. Even Sasuke seems to have caught the weird atmosphere in the room, and surprisingly does not ask any of the questions that must be gathering in his head.

Dinner takes more time than usual. Long after the last grains of rice have been cleared from their bowls, they stay around the table. It feels like they are waiting.

There is a knock on the door. Itachi rises from his position by the table, and goes to answer.

He can almost feel his brother’s curiosity radiating onto his back as he opens the door.

“Itachi-san,” a male voice greets from behind painted porcelain. Itachi immediately recognizes the man as part of the Hokage’s guard.

“Yes?” he responds, and inclines his head in greeting. He does not answer with a name in return, even if he knows the man’s name as well as his ANBU designation. An ANBU operative should never give up their knowledge of the corps in the vicinity of others.

“Uchiha Fugaku is dead. He was assassinated in the Hokage’s office,” Tokage says. There is no words added to soften the blow; it is a report, not a condolence.

Behind him, Itachi hears a soft gasp from the kitchen. He clenches his fists, forces himself to think of the pain his brother will be going through, the weight that will now lie on his mother’s shoulders. And then he forces his face blank.

“How?” he asks, and the sharpness of his tone comes naturally.

Neither does he need to fake the sorrow. Whatever feelings he had held for his father in the past, he now held an understanding for his father’s place in things. The man was a catalyst, but not a cause for the events that had taken place the first time around.

“Poison is the most likely cause of death, though the autopsy has not been completed yet,” Tokage answers, “his body is kept at the hospital, if you wish to see it.” The man’s attention seems to go to something behind Itachi, and he turns to look. His brother has frozen there in the doorway, their mother’s hand on his shoulder, his face stricken with shock.

“The body will be free for burial once the investigation is over,” Tokage says, his words clearly directed at Mikoto.

“Of course,” she answers, and her face is as free of emotion as the ANBU’s mask.

Sasuke looks up at her, and while his eyes are clear of tears, the news have plainly hit the boy hard.

“We will go to the hospital together,” Itachi informs the guard, and the man inclines his head slightly.

“I have been given orders to stay here and guard the compound,” Tokage informs, and Itachi nods in return.

There is no reason to doubt the man. From Itachi’s experience, Namiashi Raidō is the Hokage’s man through and through, and he supposes that should mean something.

So Itachi merely turns around, and picks his brother up. The boy gives a squeak of surprise, but still clings on and buries his face in Itachi’s neck.

“If the clan asks questions, tell them I’ll be back tonight to talk to them,” Itachi orders. He doesn’t wait for an answer, merely exits the house and leaves the compound in a whirl of leaves.

His mother follows close behind.

When walking in the hospital doors, there is no need to approach the reception. Itachi’s gaze is immediately pulled to an ANBU standing by the stairs. He recognizes her, mostly because of her connection to Hatake.

“Hokage-sama is awaiting you in the closed autopsy section, Uchiha-san,” she utters, and he feels her gaze follow him as he enters the stairs.

While he is not normally prone to nervousness, Itachi can still feel his heart beat slightly faster in his chest as he climbs quickly to the third floor of the building. Sasuke is a comforting weight against his hip, and the boy is still clutching him tighter than he normally would.

“Itachi-kun,” Mikoto mutters, only barely distinct from the sounds of the hospital. He freezes from where he was about to enter the floor’s hallway, hand on the handle of the door.

He turns. She is looking at him with a gaze he can’t read, and he can see her body is relaxed in a way that looks distinctly forced.

“I will need to know now if there is anything better not mentioned, should there be an interrogation,” she says in the same low tone. 

Itachi had not expected the wave of relief that suddenly hits him. It is almost painful, and he feels his brows knit together against his will. His mother’s support shouldn’t have been unexpected, and yet it somehow affects him that she would follow him into this unquestioningly.

“Be open. The truth of the matter is that the clan has been attacked, and even the Hokage must see now that his advisor has gone mad,” he details. The best way for her to help their case is to not purposefully hinder the investigation, and in doing so casting suspicion in their direction.

Of course, if the Hokage decides to throw him under the wagon in order to save his advisor, it hardly matters what they say. A kage decides what the truth is, as Sarutobi had shown both in the past and in the future.

Itachi did have a plan, should that come to pass. Several plans, even, depending on the way the Hokage might choose to bury him. However, right now he must act as though nothing of the sort could ever come to pass.

“Very well, I will be open about the recent development in the clan,” she says, and it’s clear she’s testing him. When he only nods, he can see the curve of her mouth tighten slightly.

His mother had probably always suspected his standpoint in the clan’s dispute. She had known the first time, when she and his father willingly gave their backs to his sword. It is hard to pinpoint the exact moment she found out. One of the things he might never know, in this reality or the last.

They make their way into the research department of the hospital. The ward is more still than the other sections of the building; the ratio of dead to alive is quite different in this part of the place. The doors are not as often closed, either, and Itachi spares a glance to the variety of rooms. Everything from laboratories, to quarantine rooms, to the odd office or broom closet. 

At the end of the hall, they pass through another sealed door. The smell immediately changes. What was earlier a taste of chemical components and blood gives way to decay and bleach and chlorine and alcohol. Death, and the attempt to clear the environment of it.

Passing through the morgue, they enter the closed autopsy section of the hospital.

Sasuke had, since they entered the ward, been staring wide-eyed at their surroundings. Now, he clearly remembered why they had come; his soft gasp of “father!” pulls Itachi’s gaze from where he sees the Hokage standing, and to the body on the table beside him.

Itachi grips his brother slightly more firmly, and walks forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was incredibly hard to write, which was one of several reasons why it's taken so long. But at least I am somewhat happy with it in the end, so all is well that ends well!


	8. Try a Bite

#  Chap 8 - It Happened, or not

“Hokage-sama,” Itachi utters as he bows. It was approximately half an hour since he and his family had arrived to the room, and Mikoto had decided it was time for her and Sasuke to go home. Itachi had held no illusions that he was free to follow. Without being given the order to stay, he did, because it had been a clear sign when the man hadn’t simply left the room after their arrival. Sarutobi had let Mikoto question him about the incident, and was currently watching Itachi patiently from the metal chair he occupied.

“The situation in the clan is well in hand. Those who do not agree to my approach, will now have to. The clan is no longer as aggravated as it has been, and I believe that in time they will finally start seeing themselves as part of the village,” he reports. His gaze is kept down, even though he finds himself curious as to the Sandaime’s reaction.

“You should have asked permission to include Shimura Danzō in your plan, Itachi-kun,” the Hokage says, and Itachi feels his whole body tense with the sound of that voice, and the miasma of killing intent accompanying it. Were the man to attack, he is quite sure he could get out of there. However, he has never actually fought the Sandaime himself, and is not quite sure what kind of abilities that hides behind the kindly face and wrinkles. It is no small thing, for the whole continent to agree that you are worthy of the title God of Shinobi.

Looking up, Itachi sees that the furrowed lines of the Hokage’s face have become deeper in his anger. Even so, the man makes no motion to leave his chair.

“With all due respect, Hokage-sama, Shimura Danzō was not part of my plan. However, he attacked me, and I saw no other way to survive than to temporarily incapacitate him. Since there was no way of knowing if Danzō had ordered an attack on the Uchiha clan or not, I had to make my way there quickly.”

There is a beat of silence.

“And involving the other clan leaders?” the Sandaime asks, and there is no change to his tone.

Itachi knows what he wants to reply.  _ There was no other way to make you take action, old man. _ Wisely, he does not actually utter his opinion out loud.

“The Uchiha clan has been tense ever since I returned from my meeting with Danzō. If I had not made my father go to the Hyuuga clan head, the clan would have taken action on their own. Through doing this, the Uchiha have now formed a bond with the rest of the village that will be easy to use. My only intention was for this to end well for all parties, Hokage-sama. I am sorry if my actions went against your wishes, and will accept any punishment you see fit to give me,” he explains, and once more bows his head submissively.

The sound of breath slowly escaping comes from the village leader. The tension in the room falls abruptly, and when Itachi looks up, he sees the Sandaime running a hand over his face.

It is more than apparent how tired the man is.

“It seems you have made a decision in a difficult situation. If the result is as you predict, I will not punish you for your actions.” There is a long pause, as the Sandaime stares into Itachi’s eyes, “but if I find you manipulating me again, Itachi, I will not tolerate it.”

The last words are highly hypocritical, yet Itachi only bows his head in agreement.

“Now, I believe it’s best you head home, since I imagine there will be a lot for you to get in order. It is not easy, being a clan head at your age. I hope the responsibility will not be too heavy.”

“Dismissed.”

///

That evening’s clan meeting is the second that day, and Mikoto can see the tension and uncertainty in the stiff postures and flickering gazes. 

Elder Ichiko has not stopped whispering with her group of gossipers since she entered the room. 

Elder Fuyu looks like a dark cloud is hanging over him, no doubt after Itachi’s polite refusal to speak with him before the meeting.

The forever amiable Elder Emiko has not stopped the motion of her spindle since she arrived, yet even so her sharp eyes travel the room attentively.

There is a knot at the bottom of her stomach, and the atmosphere of the room does not help. Mikoto is not nervous for herself; her husband has just died, and there will be very little expectation of her the next few days. A widow’s duty is to arrange the funeral of her late husband, and provide for the children left behind. It is not on her the burdens of the clan will be laid on.

She hears as much as sees her son enter the room, the space becoming hushed with his arrival. Itachi steps into the customary place of the clan head, and there is no hesitation in his movements. Mikoto surveys the room, trying to read the expressions on the many faces.

“As you all know, my father was very recently assassinated,” Itachi begins, not even trying to ease his audience into the statement. Mikoto sees several people flinch, as well as the many wide eyes directed at her son.

“It happened in the Hokage’s office, and the investigation has not yet been conclusive to who the responsible party is,” he continues, and Mikoto is certain his voice is close to how it is when he gives a mission report, “Yet you all know I was attacked only yesterday. It would not seem that my father’s death was an accident.”

The tension in the room is so thick it’s almost tangible. They are all waiting for those heavy words, “ _ the coup is happening now”. _ Despite Shisui’s absence, it would have been the perfect opportunity.

Mikoto knows better. Itachi had never been the bloodthirsty kind, not like his clan. It had come as little surprise when he admitted to the Hokage knowing of their “situation”.

She might even have done the same, had Minato still been Hokage. Instead, she had simply watched, letting the pieces fall where they may. The village had not been right since the Kyuubi Incident, and even she knew that the time for change was upon them.

It fills her with both worry and pride that her son now takes that change upon himself.

“Danzō’s mind was damaged irreparably by Tsukuyomi, and I fear this is also the reason why he decided to assassinate my father outright. However, his death was not in vain; through this action, Danzō has forced the Sandaime to take action. Danzō will be punished for his crimes,” Itachi speaks, and there is an outbreak of voices at his words.

He raises a hand, and the clan shuts its mouths as one.

“I am well aware of the direction we have been going in the past. However, I wish for you to take some time to think over what you want for your future, and how you want to get there. When you know that, we will discuss our course.”

The entire clan is looking at him in a mix of rage and astonishment.

Mikoto holds her own surprise at bay, and rather observes the reactions throughout the room. It is no wonder the majority of the clan is aghast. Itachi has not even been through the rituals to formally instate him as clan head, yet he is already taking charge of the situation like he has been head for years. 

“In the meantime,” he continues, “I will take my father’s place as the head of this clan. However,” there is a pause, and Mikoto believes several are holding their breaths in anticipation, “I am still young. There are many ninja of this village that are older and wiser than I am. Thus, I wish to focus solely on my duties as Head, and would like to appoint Uchiha Mikoto as head of the Military Police Force.”

Silence falls, and even with her many years of keeping a mask both porcelain and not, hasn’t prepared her for this. Her mouth is slightly open, and she stares at him for several long seconds before composing herself.

Itachi turns to her, and the collective gazes of the hall fall on her.

“It… It will be an honour to serve the clan and the village in this capacity,” she speaks, loud enough so that everyone can hear. The protests she would have uttered in private can not be exposed to this audience. Not when the peace is as fragile as it is.

There is no clapping, no cheers. Nor is the silence a refined one. It is made of shock and outrage, only kept at bay by Itachi’s raised hand.

“Now, as I said earlier, we will resume this meeting in a few days, and once we have had some time to deal with our loss and ponder our future, we will meet again to discuss the direction we are taking.”

There are no shouts, and no whispers. Mikoto studies the many differing faces with amazement.

“Our house will be open the next days, if any wish to speak,” Itachi finishes.

Mikoto was clearly going to be busy for the foreseeable future.

Her conversation with Itachi after the meeting did not go as she had imagined either.

“I would have liked it if you discussed my appointment  _ before _ announcing it to the entire clan,” she tells him, and can’t help her tone having more bite than she’s ever given him before. Itachi brings up many feelings in her; never, though, had he made her feel annoyance.

That was clearly about to change.

“You would have said no,” he replies bluntly. Mikoto almost takes after the Inuzuka and growls at him.

“I have responsibilities, Itachi! Your brother is still a child. You have just become clan head. It’s been years since I’ve seen duty, and to add on this whole situation you want to break our customs and make your  _ mother _ head of Police! The Uchiha are ready to riot, and they might choose to do that rather than cast away our traditions,” she tries to make him understand. The calmness of his demeanour makes her want to throw her hands in the air.

“Mother,” he says, and the quiet of his voice breaks through the words she has started to form.

“You are the only one I trust to do this job properly,” he utters, and she narrows her eyes at him. His hand stops her from protesting.

“Sasuke is big enough to take care of himself when we are busy. Getting some responsibility will let him grow,” Itachi continues. “You are the only one suited to be head of police, both because of your abilities, but also because of your connections. You are the Uchiha who has seen the most of the village’s politics, both as friend to the Hokage, and as a jounin of this village. Currently, you are the one in our clan with the highest count of completed missions, if you do not count our elders. This is why I chose you.”

Her thoughts still, and while reluctance and anger still war inside of her, the head of her argument has been cut off. She will not let her tongue run like a beheaded chicken. 

“And what about the elders?” She queries, and knows she should be happy that her son had thought his decision through. Yet, she is afraid his ambition might carry him down the same path his father had taken. Fugaku's plans had been good-willed as well. If the coup had succeeded, the Uchiha might have even stood as the heroes, freeing the village of corruption.

If they had failed, they would've been treated like any other traitor, as well.

“The elders will quiet down once they lose their support,” he responds, much too self-assured for his thirteen years of age.

There is a knock on their door. Itachi gazes at her for seconds as though waiting for another protest. When it doesn't come, he nods, and goes to open the door for the first of many visitors to come.

////

There had been something building up, the last few weeks. A something that Iruka was afraid to set words to, in case he was misunderstanding.

Uchiha Itachi had first initiated contact a few days after he had taken up the mantle of clan leader. That, in itself, cast doubts upon Iruka’s assumptions. In all probability, the only reason Itachi was interested in Iruka was because of Sasuke’s placement in Iruka’s class. And yet…

Itachi had invited him out to lunch that day, when he came to tell him that Sasuke and Hinata would be late to class. They had spent the evening discussing alternative teaching methods, and shinobi preparedness. It wasn’t necessarily topics that contained anything other than academic interest.

Then they had moved on to talking about Iruka, and he had suddenly felt like it was about more than just guardianship.

After they had said farewell, and Iruka took the chance to walk home slowly, he considered that this might have actually been a  _ date _ .

And wasn’t that impossible. That the great genius Uchiha clan leader was interested in a lowly academy teacher like him.

Yet Itachi hadn’t kept at one meeting. Over the last weeks they had met for many small instances. Not as in-depth, but enough to exchange words. Itachi didn’t wait outside for Sasuke, but rather seemed to make sure to meet Iruka each time he was there.

Whatever was happening, Iruka was quite sure he would burst if he didn’t get some clarity in it. There was a tension, made with the uncertainty the situation held. So now, the first time he was alone with Itachi since it began, he would make it clear.

“Itachi-san,” he begins, and feels a jolt in his chest when the Uchiha turns his dark gaze on him.

“I’ve felt… I hope I’m not misunderstanding, but I’ve had a feeling that something has been happening, between us?” he ends a bit doubtfully, already regretting his phrasing. You would think that being a teacher makes you good at speaking to people, but Iruka is proving that assumption wrong with every word.

Itachi looks at him until it feels like his guts will start crawling up his throat to escape. Then there is an unexpected quirk of his lips, and Iruka feels his stomach drop.

“Yes,” the Uchiha says helpfully, and takes another bite of his food.

“So...” Iruka tries to clarify.

“I am romantically interested in you, Iruka-san,” Itachi says, and blood immediately flushes Iruka’s face at the frankness.

They spend several minutes in silence after that statement. Itachi doesn’t seem to feel like it’s particularly awkward. He does smile at Iruka again, and it makes him want to hide his face in his hands. His stomach is making all sorts of tumbles, and it sure isn’t because of the food.

“Me too,” he replies lamely after too much time has passed. It doesn’t seem like Itachi minds.

Iruka doesn’t ask how this will work out with Itachi’s clan. It might be a worry for another time.

///

“You and Itachi?” Kotetsu erupts. Izumo is beside him, rubbing his brow in consternation.

Iruka nods, but does not remove his face from where it’s hidden in his palms.

“I didn’t even know Itachi-san was interested in people,” Izumo comments, accompanied by Kotetsu’s cackling.

“Neither did I,” Iruka admits. The Uchiha had rarely been a part of the places where the ninja of Konoha usually hung out, and Itachi had seemed particularly distant. His class at the academy had only seen him briefly as he breezed through the academy, and it was well known how his genin team had ended up.

“Uchiha Iruka, who would have thought,” Kotetsu grins gleefully. It’s sadly not possible for Iruka to bury his face any more into his hands than he already has.

“That’s probably not what Itachi has in mind,” he admits, his voice muffled.

“With how much of a player he is, you’re sure to only be a passing fling,” Izumo comes with dryly.

“What’s this I hear?” sounds behind Iruka, and the chuckle that accompanies it makes it clear that Genma isn’t alone in having heard.  He groans, because at this rate the news will have made the rounds at the jounin station by evening.

“Iruka-chan has scored the clan leader himself! Our boy is making his way up in the world,” Kotetsu says, and mimes wiping a tear from his eye. Genma throws himself down on the couch beside Iruka.

Raidō is sitting across from Iruka by the time he stops hiding his face. It’s often quite hard to tell with him, but Iruka is sure his face is looking particularly smug.

“There must be something more interesting happening than this,” he attempts, knowing that it won’t help. His friends are like Inuzuka dogs; once they get on a scent, they are impossible to divert.

As he had foreseen, he’s promptly ignored.

“The choice does make sense. It’s not hard to imagine Iruka-kun in an apron, doing chores while Itachi takes care of the clan business,” Raidō says, in a perfectly matter-of-fact voice.  “And he’s good with kids! So it was Itachi that scored, not Iruka!” Kotetsu chips in.  “But how far into Itachi’s business have you gotten, Iruka?” sounds calculatingly from Izumo’s corner of the couch.

Iruka throws his hands up in frustration.

“We haven’t even been on a proper date yet, stop getting ahead of yourselves!”

Once more it doesn’t help, and there are many more rounds of crude teasing left before Iruka gives up and retreats home.

Talking about Itachi for such a long time, has still not prepared Iruka to find him standing outside his door.

“Ah, Iruka-san,” comes gently from the clan head. Iruka takes in Itachi’s state with wide eyes.  There is blood running from his eyes, blood staining his uniform, and blood that’s dripped to the floor where he obviously leaned against the wall.

“What-” he starts, but the insistent flicker of Itachi’s eyes stop him. They are red as well, a spinning type of the sharingan that Iruka has never seen before.

Following the silent order, Iruka opens the door. Itachi stumbles inside, and takes the first chair he comes over that isn’t covered in fabric.  Very sensible, Iruka remarks idly as he rushes to get his med kit. It is not the first time a ninja has stumbled into his home with wounds, but this looks rather more serious than he’s handled before.

When he returns, Itachi has managed to wrestle off his west and jacket. There is an uncharacteristic snarl on his face as he pulls his shirt off the partially dried blood on his upper body. Immediately it becomes apparent that  a large part of skin is missing, where fire has burnt through the layers of skin and muscle to show charred rib cage underneath.

Iruka is quite sure this is more damage than he can manage with a few bandages.

“Just wrap it, it should already be clean,” Itachi says through clenched teeth.

Iruka has cursed many things in the village, Itachi included, before he’s finished placing generous amounts of bandage on his blasted love interest.

////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, would you look at that! A love interest! Where did it even come from? Where will it go? I'm not even sure I know, to be honest.
> 
> Iruka is having a hard time. It's not that easy, being teased by everyone and then suddenly have to fix your crush so he doesn't bleed to death.
> 
> Until next time!


	9. Alliances

Curiosity and anxiety both loom inside of him as he stands outside the Nakano shrine. Curiosity over whether the situation has changed to such an extent that Tobi won’t show up. Anxiety that he will, and that, perhaps, Itachi won’t be able to stand against him.

Despite his doubt, the masked man still exits the shrine at the same time as before. He still looks at Itachi with interest, visible even through the mask.

Once, Itachi had believed this person was Madara. But Madara was a man of pride and arrogance, a bitter person who believed himself above others. There was no way Madara would undermine himself in the way Tobi had.

And this man is undoubtedly Tobi.

“How did you know about me?” sounds the exact same phrase as before. Now, it contains more to Itachi than it did before. This time they will not be allies.

That doesn’t mean that Itachi can’t use him.

“There are not many Uchiha whose bodies have not been recovered. In fact, there has only been two Uchiha in our history that have not had their bodies burned through our funeral rites,” he reasons, and only through his sharingan does he register the raised heartbeat and stilled breath of the man before him.

“And you are unmistakably an Uchiha,” he continues, and nods towards the shrine doors beside them, “so I guess you didn’t die from those rocks after all, Obito?”

////

Obito is furious.

He’s also feeling dread. Anxiety. And underneath those, a strange feeling of glee. It’s not like he’s wanted someone to recognize him. Not that anyone’s ever come close. The closest he’s come, in fact, is when one person figured he was Madara.

So this is unexpected. And yet it is almost nice, to know that he had mattered enough for someone to actually  _ notice _ . Even someone from his own family, who had clearly seen him as trash, not even fit for looking at.

Of course, this boy still needs to die.

Obito phases through kamui. He flings shuriken from several angles through the dimension, and appears in front of the Uchiha as his attacks drive him away from the onslaught.

His short blade is met with the boy’s own tantō, and Obito notices it’s ANBU make. So he’s dealing with another child genius, he scoffs to himself as he lashes out with the blade.

Then he meets the boy’s eyes, and he’s pulled in.

_ Tsukuyomi _ , he realizes, with just a tad bit of awe. Then he focuses his own eye, and  _ amaterasu _ leaps to life on the Uchiha’s chest.

The illusion collapses around them, and Obito sees that the boy had time to move several meters away from him in the course of it. He takes a bit too long to extinguish the flames, though, and Obito is upon him. His blade goes through where the boy’s heart was. Around it, hundreds of crows erupt, and he immediately searches the area for where the chakra signature goes.

In the end, he lets it go. The signature has disappeared, and Obito is no tracker. 

Either way, the boy is an Uchiha, which means Obito is bound to meet him again.

First, though, he has to find Danzō.

The trip to the bowels of the Hokage mountain once more leaves him surprised. Other than blood and ashes, the Root headquarters are completely empty. No child soldiers; no grumpy council elder; no experiments or training or brainwashing.

The place stinks, and Obito only takes the time to flicker through it before he leaves again. There has clearly been a purge, and all signs indicate that the Shimura is no longer a major player.

If he even is a player at all anymore.

Obito reappears in the forest close to Rin’s grave. He can see the stone, through the branches. There is one lone flower there, clearly left not too long ago.

The question now is whether he should even take the chance of appearing in front of the Uchiha. Clearly the situation is different than his sources suggested.

It grates at him to have come here for no reason, however. Being discovered has left a deep sense of anxiety, that he hasn’t felt in a very long time. So he buries that feeling deep, and phases back to the forest bordering the Uchiha district. There is a buzz within the borders, hushed voices that can barely be heard, even with Obito’s enhanced senses. He goes through the wall with little problem, hiding in the shadows cast by the houses.

Here, he can hear vague voices, only barely legible. He settles down, forces his heart to slow, and brings extra chakra to his hearing.

“... ridiculous isn’t it, that our high and mighty clan leader wants  _ us _ to deci- ouch!”

“The boy might not be instated yet, but watch your tongue! He is still your better, and deserves your respect!”

The first is a girl’s voice, old enough to be a ninja but young enough to be inexperienced. It is no longer war-time, after all.

The second is clearly an old woman. It sounds familiar, but Obito hasn’t seen his clan for a long time. The memories before he earned his sharingan blur together, and most of the clan’s faces are now completely unfamiliar to him.

“He’s younger than me though,” comes the reply, lower than before.

“And he could kill you fifty times before you could even reach your kunai. So shut your mouth and eat your soup.”

“How can I shut my mouth and eat at-”

Obito moves on. The next house is the clan leader’s himself, and Obito is curious what he will hear there.

Careful not to step into view of the guards, he steps up the wall and hides in the darkness of the roof’s shadows.

There is silence, but he doesn’t have to wait long.

“And how long do you think it will be?” Comes a terse voice from inside.

“If I knew Itachi’s whereabouts, I would be able to tell you. But as it is, I do not. For all I know, he has been called in by the Hokage, or has been invited over to a clan member’s house for discussion. I will tell him you stopped by, Fuyu-sama. Was there anything else?”

The elder clearly has a lot more to say. Obito actually remembers the irate elder, and can’t help a small smile as the man stomps out of there, muttering about ungrateful clan heirs and terrible parenting.

“Is nii-san okay?” sounds a small voice.

Obito watches the flickering shadows intently as the mother gives reassurement. The pieces are falling into place, and a plan is starting to form.

////

The night passes in a haze.

At some point during the bandaging, Itachi loses track of Iruka’s gentle hands and chastising voice. They slowly fade into darkness. When he next opens his eyes, his face is pressed into a pillow, not a table. There is an intense pain at his side, and he can’t help but compare it to the stinging pain of coughing his lungs up. The comparison should have made him grateful, but instead it just brings attention to how every breath stretches the tissue covering his ribs. Looking down, it’s clear that the burnt skin has cracked open during the night. Blood is staining the bandages.

There is a faint snoring close by, and Itachi realizes that Iruka is sleeping out in the living room. He breathes in, and tries to bring his concentration to the lingering smell of Iruka on the bedsheets.

Not for the first time, he doubts his decision of coming here.

Even more so, when there is a soft, but pointed cough. Itachi twists around, and curses silently in regret.

“You’re awake. Good. Iruka’s been up way too long worrying for you,” sounds dryly, and Itachi takes in the crossed arms and masked face.

If he’s not wrong, it’s one of the Hokage’s guard platoon.  _ Hato _ , he remembers, though he doesn’t actually know who’s behind the mask.

“Care to tell me why that burn won’t heal?” the man continues, and walks closer. Slowly, like he’s approaching a scared animal.

“Classified,” Itachi answers, and gets a scoff in return.

“So classified you’re not even telling your own Hokage about it? Must be top class. SSS-ranked, even,” and he opens his hands, showing only a clean bandage. Itachi hadn’t been worried about an attack, but at least it makes the man’s actions clear. He throws off the sheets, and gives the man his back.

Hato immediately starts working, his hands clearly used to the task.

“Will you tell him?” Itachi asks abruptly. No reason to walk in circles around the topic.

There is a moment of silence, the only sound the slight shuffle of Hato’s movements.

“... No. Not unless you give me further reason to do so.”

Itachi nods.

“I’m doing the bandages quite tight. It should help you function like normal during the day; at night, however, you have to take it off. The wound needs the air, and you could hurt your lungs if you wear it too tightly for too long.”

It would be quite ironic, if bandages would be the reason for his damaged lungs this time around.

Itachi glances at the clock, and wishes he could spend the rest of the time before dawn in this bed.

“Will you stay until he wakes up?” he wonders, and Hato nods.

“I don’t have duty before noon, so this is as good a place to be as any,” he replies.

“Then please give him my thanks,” Itachi says, and looks for his shirt. Hato hands him one that is definitely not the one he was wearing the day before.

Even so, he accepts it without argument.

The trip home might be the most painful thing in his life, if dying of a chronic illness isn’t considered as part of his life.

Finally he gets there, though, silently stepping through the house as he goes for his room.

Something bothers him, and he steps past his own door, and over to Sasuke’s.

Opening the door proves his suspicions right.

The bed is empty. And on it, lies a note written in a coarse hand,

_ What a cute little brother you have. _

Itachi only barely stops himself from crashing into the door frame. His head is spinning, his wound is throbbing, and yet he barely notices it.

He is angry.

His feet carry him through the house. In the kitchen he finds pain killers and soldier pills, and takes what he knows is on the border of too many of the latter and too few of the first. He can’t be distracted by the drugs, but neither can he be too distracted by the pain. Then he’s out of there, rushing towards the only place Obito would have brought Sasuke.

The Shrine.

////

At first, Sasuke had found the mask very scary.

It wasn’t like any mask he had seen in the village. It wasn’t like his brother’s. But when he looks into that one hole, and sees the sharingan spinning there, he grins.

“Can you teach me how to get it? How to awaken the sharingan?” he says, and the masked man looks up from where he was reading a scroll.

“You know what? Maybe I will. Maybe you’ll unlock it tonight,” the person says, and the cheery tone widens Sasuke’s grin even more.

“Really!? I mean, everyone says it’s a hard thing to do, and that not all Uchiha can even do it, but Itachi did it when he was really young. I want to do it too, and then I can help protect our family!”

The person is staring at him, and Sasuke wonders a bit whether he’s acting too much like Naruto. Hinata thinks Naruto is really cool, but Sasuke thinks his brother is cooler, and Itachi doesn’t really say stuff like that.

The silence stretches, so Sasuke starts to talk again. “So, how are we going to do it? Is it like the Gōkakyuu no Jutsu? I can do that one, you know! And it’s supposed to be very hard, and many people can only do it after they finish the academy,” Sasuke continues excitedly, and starts forming the hand signs.

The stranger grabs his hands before he can even get halfway.

“There is a lot of important scrolls in here, Sasuke-chan. So maybe you can show me later,” the man says, and Sasuke nods gravely in answer. Of course he shouldn’t do a fire jutsu with all of these scrolls around! His brother had told him of the importance of knowing your surroundings before you did jutsu, after all.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think! Nii-san told me of the importance of where you should do your jutsu, because if you were in a cave and you did a doton you could cause a cave-in!” He keeps from waving his hands, because that would be a childish thing to do. The masked man flinches, and Sasuke stops talking.

“I’m sorry if you did that sometime, I guess not everybody would know,” Sasuke says wisely, and gives the man a pat on the arm.

“Sasuke,” sounds from behind him, and he whirls around.

“Nii-san!” he erupts, both in surprise and happiness. Maybe now they could both teach him how to do the sharingan?

He starts to walk towards Itachi, but is stopped by something holding his sweater.

A glance up at the man tells him it is indeed his hand stopping him from walking.

“I’m afraid we left things a bit unfinished, Itachi-san,” the man says, and Sasuke shudders at the sudden change in his voice. It’s suddenly cold and hard, and he realizes that this might not be special Uchiha training after all.

“You’re after my brother?” Sasuke asks, and his voice is harder now. Angry. This man was using him to get to his nii-san!

“Actually, it was your brother who started this. So, how  _ did _ you know, little clan leader?”

Sasuke looks at his brother, and his eyes widen when he sees a small smile there. It’s not the smile Itachi usually gives him. It’s a very not nice smile, and Sasuke doesn’t like seeing it on his brother.

“Because my sharingan can see the future, of course.”

Sasuke stares in disbelief. They all say that the sharingan can predict. That is a far step off from seeing the future though!

Then he realizes, that means that Itachi knew that their  _ father _ -

The masked man laughs.

“Oh really? I’ve never heard of a Mangekyō with more than one ultimate ability,” he says, and it’s clear he doesn’t believe Itachi.

“Gedō Mazō. Uchiha Madara. Nagato, Konan, Kakuzu, Rinnegan. Shall I continue?”

The man is suddenly gripping Sasuke’s shoulder very hard. He whimpers, and tries to free himself. It’s like he is trying to move stone.

“Now, I’m not saying this in order to provoke you. I know you’re more powerful than me,” his brother concedes, and Sasuke gapes at him. He didn’t think anyone was stronger than Itachi, except maybe the Kage. That must mean the man is  _ really _ strong.

“I’m saying this because I know your plan won’t succeed. And I have an alternative.”

The grip loosens slightly. It doesn’t mean Sasuke is any closer to getting free. He tries clawing, biting, but it’s like scratching at a tree.

“I’m listening,” is all the man says in reply.

“The jinchuuriki are a powerful resource. It is a waste to stuff their power in a statue that won’t work in the end anyway,” his brother explains. Sasuke is very confused. “You could force the countries into peace, by uniting them and leading them under one banner,”

“ _ Akatsuki _ .”

They say it together, and Sasuke is really curious if he’s understanding them right.

Their father always talked about how the Uchiha clan should be leading the village, not be spit on by even the lowliest of civilians.

Itachi isn’t talking about the village. He’s talking about the entire  _ world _ .

The masked man lets go of his shoulder. Sasuke looks up at him, and the mask bobs up and down in a nod.

He runs over to his brother.

Itachi catches him, and the good smile is back. Then there’s two of his brother, and one of them stays while the other carries him out of there.

Sasuke has a lot of questions. But he’s almost grown up, and he can tell when it’s important to wait.

////

The next day, it’s like nothing’s happened. Sasuke gets out of bed, and it’s almost like the entire night was a dream. Both his mother and Itachi are at the table, his mother putting bowls down for each of them.

They both look really tired.

“Ah, Sasuke! Good, I was just going to come wake you,” his mother says, and smiles at him. He nods solemnly, and sits down opposite Itachi.

Throughout the meal, he keeps sneaking glances at his brother. Itachi is just eating, though, like nothing has happened. Sasuke looks at Mikoto, but she doesn’t seem to notice anything amiss.

“We have been wondering, Sasuke…” his mother hesitates, and Sasuke stares at her. Did she know about their trip to the shrine? Was she going to needle him until he spilled everything?

Another glance at Itachi, and he relaxes slightly. His brother looks completely unconcerned.

“We have been wondering if you would like to start walking to the academy on your own,” she finishes, and Sasuke deflates completely.

She seems to take that the wrong way.

“Of course you don’t have to! We can find someone who could take you-”

“No!” he exclaims. His mother looks a bit shocked at the loudness of his voice. He continues at a lower volume. “I am almost a ninja now. I can manage to go to the academy on my own,” he claims boldly, even as disappointment settles in his chest. He likes walking to the academy with them, especially Itachi. Some days that’s the only time when Sasuke sees him.

But of course they’re too busy now. They lead the whole clan, and Sasuke needs to become a grown-up as well. Itachi doesn’t have anyone follow him to his missions. So Sasuke won’t either!

His mother smiles a bit more brightly, and Sasuke grins toothily back.

There is a chuckle from Itachi. Sasuke grabs his chopsticks again, and makes sure to be finished at the same time they are.

Then he’s off to pack his bag. His mother still made him a bento, and Sasuke accepts it like it is the most precious thing in the world.

On the way out of the compound, he makes sure to wave goodbye to anyone he meets, including the guards at the gate. They smile and wish him luck, and he races off down the street.

It’s not that he’s late. It’s just that his mother and Itachi are very slow, when they walk him. So at least now he can go as fast as he wants!

He rounds the corner, and freezes in his tracks as his eyes find the masked man in a shadowed nook of one of the buildings.

Tentatively, he raises his hand in a wave.

His heart skips a beat when the man waves back.

So Sasuke takes it as a sign that he can walk on. All the way to the academy, his mind races ahead of him, imagining all the things his brother and the masked man might be planning.

////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was quite interesting when Itachi suddenly went from Family First to World Dominance. I did not see it coming.


	10. Opening Up (a bit)

The guards outside the compound look uncharacteristically grim when he arrives there. They also look tense and ready, and are three instead of the usual two. Even a jounin, he notices while he walks closer.

“Shisui-kun!” Atsuko says, surprise clear in her voice.

He puts on a smile. Before he can walk past, though, Kazuo throws out a hand to stop him.

“You’re early. Everything alright?” the gruff man asks, and Shisui turns to face him. The jounin looks tired, and he imagines it has been tough on all of them with all the recent changes.

“Yeah, the Hokage actually told me what’s been happening here. Said I could return here as long as it wouldn’t get in the way of my mission. So I thought returning was for the best. Especially if, you know…” he trails off, and it’s clear the man gets his drift. The corners of his mouth are turning even more downwards.

“There has been quite a few changes lately. You should probably talk to your cousin,” he says. Shisui glances at Atsuko, and she nods hesitantly. 

“It’s at least good to have you back, Shisui-kun,” says the last guard earnestly, and Shisui looks at him with surprise. His smile takes a genuine turn.

“Thank you, Ichiro-kun,” he responds, and pats his cousin on the shoulder before entering the compound.

The sun is high in the sky, and there are several Uchiha out in the main street going through the compound. Shisui considers going home first, but Itachi’s house is closer. So he goes there instead, knocking politely on the door before entering.

He calls a greeting, slipping off his shoes at the entrance. There is the sound of voices from the living room, and Itachi swiftly appears in the hallway.

“Shisui!” he exclaims, and Shisui finds himself oddly pleased with the surprise on Itachi’s face. Then he notices the many small tells. Shisui frowns, and quickly moves closer.

“You’re hurt,” he accuses, and sees Itachi’s mouth thin in obvious disapproval. So it’s not commonly known, then.

“We have visitors,” Itachi deflects. Shisui nods, acquiescing to put the matter aside until later. It is understandable that Itachi would not want to show weakness, not in a time when power and authority meant the difference between war and peace.

“I hope I’m not interrupting,” he responds as they enter the living room. Elder Fuyu and Elder Ichiko are both sitting opposite Mikoto. Fuyu is wearing a frown, but that is hardly unusual. Ichiko is gaping at him, clearly taken aback that he is there. His grandmother had often been in two minds about him, so it isn’t surprising that no warm welcome is forthcoming.

Mikoto’s smiling at him though, and her smile is just a tad too relieved to be normal. “Please, join us for tea,” she intones, and leaves her untouched cup for him. Then she disappears into the kitchen, surprisingly fast. Ichiko gasps, and Shisui is reminded once more that she was never a ninja. His grandfather had married her after being hurt in battle, and thus had not used many ninja techniques around her. Or so she had regaled, one of the many times she had gruffly told him off for using shunshin in the house.

Fuyu’s frown has shifted to something more perplexed, perhaps from the subtle reminder that the clan leader’s widow is also a ninja.

Shisui takes a seat, and Itachi does as well. There is no comment on the way Itachi gingerly places himself by the table, but Shisui positively  _ itches _ to ask him about it. 

Instead, he takes a sip of the fragrant tea Mikoto pours him, and lets his gaze settle on her. She had lithely sat herself at the end of the table, and is looking at the two elders with a cool grace.

It is strange, to see his aunt act this way. Then again, he has no idea what kind of conversation he had just interrupted. There's a pang in his chest, as he properly realizes how much he's missed out on. Even while he was in the village, it was impossible to follow the internal struggles in the clan without actually being  _ in it _ . 

Ichiko clears her throat, and starts up a conversation with him. After being asked many things, included how his eyes are doing and further inquiring about his health and readiness for action, it becomes clear that they will not continue the earlier conversation. Shisui feels a spot of pity for Mikoto when he sees how relieved that makes her. It also means that he can't excuse himself and come back later. Instead, he talks awkwardly with his grandmother until Elder Fuyu decides he will be better suited to come back later. Ichiko exits soon after, thanking for the tea and telling Shisui she will expect him home tonight.

A heavy silence sinks over the house. Mikoto goes to bustle around the kitchen, cutting vegetables with scary speed and precision. Shisui eyes her a bit warily, before his gaze settles on Itachi.

Who is apparently staring at him intently. So much so, that Shisui is surprised the look doesn’t burn through his sweater or something.

“Umm,” he eloquently starts. Then Itachi abruptly gets up, clearly taking care not to jostle his side now that the elders are no longer present.

“Let’s take a walk,” his friend utters, before he turns to leave. Shisui follows, feeling a bit lost. It’s like he’s lost his ability to talk with Itachi, now that he’s spent several months away.

They walk quietly to the outskirts of the compound, where the trees meet the vegetable gardens in a sharp separation between cultured and wild growth. Their steps carry them to the bridge where they usually meet, the river trailing languidly beneath it.

Shisui can’t stop staring at Itachi, who seems much too content to remain in silence. They stop at the bridge, and his cousin finally turns to him again.

“The plan has changed greatly while you were away,” Itachi starts. Shisui isn’t surprised; the situation has also changed an awful lot since he was present in the clan. The stand-still that had lasted for years, tense and battle-ready, has now exploded into something… Different. Hard to say yet what the current situation even is, actually.

“My father is dead. Danzo is dead, even if many in the village do not know yet. The clan has calmed down, and I doubt they will be outraged enough at my decisions to actually rise in rebellion.” Itachi says these things like they are simple fact, like the colour of leaves or the price of a vegetable. Shisui is speechless.

His cousin pauses, seemingly weighing him with his dark eyes. Shisui feels oddly judged, by a person who he had formerly believed to be the only to accept him as he was. 

“There are other things in motion though. So, I would like to know,” and he pauses again, like he’s hesitant to ask. A frown enters Shisui’s face, and he opens his mouth to respond, when Itachi continues. “Are you still willing to make change? Not only for the clan, but for the entire world?”

His mouth snaps shut. That… Was not what he expected. Itachi had stated clearly that he was a pacifist, that he wanted a world without war and child soldiers. Yet, this was starting to sound like another coup was in the works.

“Really? After all we went through to stop the coup from happening, you’re going back to the same kind of thinking?” Shisui erupts, aghast. “I thought-”

“Clearly, we are not on the same topic,” Itachi interrupts, looking almost… Annoyed? Huh, Shisui must have actually managed to put his sandal in his mouth this time.

“I am not planning any kind of take-over. Simply to support an organization that is planning to even the power imbalance of the elemental nations,” his cousin explains. Shisui frowns in confusion. This seems a particularly radical idea for the Itachi he knows. Unless there is more behind it than Itachi is saying.

“Does the Hokage know?”

An exasperated sigh escapes him as Itachi shakes his head.

“The Hokage would not be happy about this plan, especially since it involves separating Konoha from its only jinchuuriki.”

Silence falls between them as he stares at Itachi with horror.

“What.” he responds after half a minute. He’s not sure he actually believes what he’s hearing.

“The containers of the tailed beasts are being mistreated in so to say every village they are in. Even so, they are also some of the most powerful beings that we know of. Were they to be united, with the common cause of enforcing peace in the elemental nations, there would be no village strong enough to oppose them. No one would dare start a war, if the force of nine tailed beasts could come down on them were they to do so.”

Another silence. Itachi seems content to let him think it over, which Shisui both appreciates and wants to scream at him for. The idea is so new and all-encompassing, and so wildly strange. It almost goes over the line of crazy, and back over to absolutely sensible.

Especially with the way Itachi explains it: as if the idea is perfectly logical, even a logical jump from stabilizing Konoha. And then, of course, the next step would be to marry all the five kage together in a big, wonderful poly family.

Shisui buries his face in his hands, and tries to get the picture of the Hokage and the Tsuchikage holding hands out of his brain.

Wait. “Wait, you said ‘organization,” he realizes, and removes his hands to stare at his cousin again. Itachi has moved in the time he closed his eyes. He is now leaning against the railing, staring down at the water.

“Yes. I recently came in contact with their leader, in connection to things changing so quickly here in Konoha.”

“Were they the ones who killed your father!?” Shisui exclaims, feeling the pieces fall into place. Then, of course, they blow apart again when Itachi shakes his head.

“I want to be truthful with you, Shisui,” Itachi says, and he feels his stomach drop at those words, “you are the only person in this village I truly trust.”

Then, as Itachi stares at him, he sees those black eyes change into a sharingan he has never seen before. The Mangekyo, different in shape from his own. Just as heavy with its implications.

“You did?” Shisui asks, because those eyes cannot mean anything else. Itachi did not have the advanced sharingan before Shisui left; now he does.

“If the coup had gone any further, it would have been our entire clan,” Itachi says, completely emotionless. Shisui shakes his head, and feels tears start running down his cheeks.

Shisui knows what it means to be a ninja, to owe your loyalty completely to the village. He had been willing to take this on his own shoulders, to manipulate the elders in order to stop the coup. Instead, Itachi had taken it on himself, like he seemed to do everything, recently.

Even the fate of the entire world, it seemed.

Opening his arms, he draws Itachi towards his chest. His cousin is stiff and unmoving against him, but Shisui hugs him anyway. It’s not like killing your father doesn’t leave scars. Just having the Mangekyo is proof of that, of how much the choice must have influenced Itachi. So Shisui hugs him until the tenseness goes away, until his friend relaxes against him. He can hear and feel Itachi breathing in deeply, and Shisui smiles.

“Okay,” he says, after minutes have passed. “I’ll help you change the world.”

///

Hinata has seen many things recently.

She has seen Sasuke fall apart. The day after his father’s death, she had met him outside the academy. He was with his brother. His shoulders had been hunched up close to his ears, his hands in his pockets, and he had looked like he was going to cry. Hinata didn’t know what was wrong at the time, but she had gone to hug him nonetheless. So the tears came, and Sasuke’s brother had told her quietly that he would inform Iruka-sensei they would be late. On other days she might be horrified of that, too scared of the looks everyone would give her when she came in, of the scolding she might get from the teacher, and from her father when she heard.

Then, she had pulled Sasuke with her to one of the more secluded places in the yard, separated from the rest of the place by a tree and several bushes. And their classes was the furthest thing from her mind.

Sasuke had told her about his father. About Itachi becoming the new clan leader, how his mother was going to be head of police. It might be things that he wasn’t supposed to tell her, but Hinata didn’t say so. Instead, she kept holding his hand, and nodding with encouragement the few times he looked at her instead of the grass.

He told her of how they were probably going to be too busy to ever do anything with him now. About how stupid that thought was, that he was getting to the age of becoming a ninja and that he shouldn’t be sad about this. That ninja were supposed to be tough.

So Hinata told him about her own family. How they all stare at her in disappointment, how her only in-clan friend had stopped talking to her because that seemed to be expected of him. How her sister already seemed destined to overcome her, even if Hanabi was barely more than a toddler.

It made her cry as well, and, somehow, it helped. Sasuke leaned against her, hugged her really tightly, and promised her that the two of them were going to be the strongest shinobi in all of Konoha.

In turn, Hinata whispered “in the whole  _ world”,  _ and saw a brilliant smile light up Sasuke’s face.

They sat there talking all through the first period, and arrived to taijutsu lesson ruffled and red-eyed. Iruka-sensei just smiled warmly at them.

That next evening, Hinata saw change. She arrived home after spending all day with Sasuke, Ino and Sakura, and found her father sitting down to tea with all the clan heads of the mayor clans. She could see that the branch members were flitting around nervously. There were heads to clans that weren’t even a in the council, and most were part of a lively discussion. It was so different from the usual sombre quality to the compound, that Hinata had to giggle to herself. Several amused or interested eyes followed her as she passed the doorway.

The next day, she saw Naruto pull away from their group. It happened suddenly, between one day and the next. She was left trying hard not to stare too obviously in his direction, even as the others seemed not to even notice his absence. Sasuke was in a strangely heated discussion with Shikamaru. Everyone seemed occupied. Except-

“Ino-chan,” Hinata spoke, and almost regretted it when more than just Ino turned towards her. When she didn’t say anything else, the others continued their conversations. Ino still looked at her though, patiently waiting.

Most people didn’t know that Ino could be patient. Hinata had seen it in the way she carefully cultivated things; everything from flowers to the relationships she had with other people.

“Do you think.. Umm, maybe you could talk to Naruto-kun? He seems down, and you’re really good at talking to people, and I- umm…” she trailed off, feeling uncertain under the intensity of Ino’s gaze.

“Of course, Hina-chan!” she erupted, smiling widely. Hinata smiled as well, chest heavy with relief, before she suddenly got pulled up by Ino as well. “Let’s go!” the girl grinned, and Hinata couldn’t do anything but trail helplessly after her as she marched up to Naruto.

The whole “talking to Naruto” turned into Ino basically yelling at him. The boy seemed to pull more and more back, before Ino scolded him for that too. So then he started yelling back, instead, which Hinata found much nicer than the sad and quiet Naruto. And then, somehow, Ino ended the whole argument by saying he was a dumbass for not hanging with them if that was what he actually wanted to do, and Naruto ended up sitting with them again.

Hinata hadn’t actually said anything, but still felt a warmth inside her at the thought that she had helped. The sad look had disappeared from Naruto’s face, and Ino had taken to jostling the boy playfully any time he said anything even close to bad about himself. It seemed like Ino had found another shy duckling to take under her wing, and Hinata watched as he and Sakura trailed after Ino as she lead them into the next class. And Hinata vowed to someday be able to do that too, without asking Ino to do it for her.

Right now, what she sees is rage. Not her own. She would like to think she doesn’t get angry, even if she does feel it a bit when she sees mean adults being bad to Naruto, or when she lays in bed and tries not to think of little baby Hanabi getting more love from her family than she ever did. The rage she sees now, though, is not hidden under blankets or behind obscurity. It’s a snarl on Neji’s face, as he dusts off the marks from where he fell onto the ground.

Neji had gotten careless. Hinata thinks this with trepidation, as she sees that snarl getting closer as her cousin stalks towards her. There is no way she will be able to do the same thing again; he will not give her the opportunity.

She does the best she can, however. When they’re done sparring, she is bruised and limping, and can’t feel the entire left side of her body. Even so, she had gotten a few hits in; while not elegant, or a technique the Hyuuga would approve of, she had managed to land a punch on the side of Neji’s face. Sasuke had hinted earlier that she should. Reverting to a way of taijutsu the Hyuuga didn’t use, would give her a great advantage of surprise. As it is, Neji’s pale skin is growing blue around his eye.

Meanwhile, her father hasn’t stopped staring at her. Turning towards him, she sees that his eyes are still on her. Automatically, her shoulders creep up towards her ears, her fingers meeting defensively in front of her.

Then he nods at her, and walks away. She’s left standing, baffled. Not encouragement, but she hadn’t expected such a thing when she had been fighting so crudely. Even so, he’s not yelling at her. Or hissing angrily, as he is more prone to do.

“Hinata-sama,” her caretaker says, his brows bunched as he eyes her damaged body. “Let’s get you fixed up,” he says, and takes hold of her less gently than he usually would. It would not do for him to be seen coddling her, after all.

She allows herself one glance, to look at Neji’s back. His fists are clenched by his side. He is breathing heavily, she can see from the movement of his shoulders. If she didn’t know him better, she would almost think he was crying.

Her cousin must be really angry at her.

///

It has taken Sakura some time to get used to the other kids.

Before, it used to be only her and Ino. That had been fine; wonderful, even. Sakura had never had a friend before, not that she could remember. So when Ino told her to pick herself up and not be ashamed, it was like finally seeing the sun after being inside for a long time. A bit hurtful, with the sharp glare, but also nice and warming.

All these other people, though? Sakura has a hard time keeping up. They are all so different, and react to so many strange things. Shikamaru will become in a bad mood just from people playing too close to him, or trying to include him. Hinata is even more shy than Sakura, and barely talks to anyone but Sasuke.  _ Sasuke _ , the person who had brought them together, will often reassure that he wants them all to be friends, even while he acts pompous and like he’s superior to them all.

Kiba, who only recently joined them, is almost as loud as Naruto, and twice as rowdy. Only Shikamaru has avoided getting into a brawl with Kiba. Not even Sakura managed to escape, and she tried  _ really _ hard.

Sakura doesn’t really like to fight, so when they start setting up playful “ninja matches”, she retreats to the back, where Shino is watching. He does that all the time, and Sakura actually finds it a bit creepy. Even so, he’s a kindred spirit: Shino doesn’t seem to like fighting either.

Naruto, though? He is very loud. So much so, that Sakura prefers to keep her distance. Ino can also be loud, but only in short bursts. Naruto is shouting almost all the time, other than the few times where he suddenly gets very quiet when there’s grown-ups around. Sakura gets that part: she doesn’t want to be yelled at by an adult for being loud, either.

It’s only because of this distance she makes sure to keep, that she has her eyes on him when his attention is suddenly caught by something. He runs off, and nobody else seems to notice. When Sakura looks to where he’s running, she can’t actually see anyone. Then again, knowing Naruto, he might have just gotten an idea for a prank or something. Even so, she’s curious. So, she gives a look to where everyone else is gathered, and sneaks off too. Shino sees her go, but he only watches her, and doesn’t warn the others or anything.

When she turns the corner, Naruto is just standing there, talking with some guy in a mask. He doesn’t look like the normal guys in masks, who Sakura sometimes manages to catch a glimpse of. This guy’s mask is weird and orange, and there is only one eye hole.

The mask moves, and there’s a red eye inside it, looking straight at her.

Sakura freezes. She stands still for what feels like an eternity, meeting that red eye. There is sweat running down her back. She tries to breathe, and notices that her entire body is shivering.

Then she turns around. The others look like they’re up to something fun! She really wants to join them. Ino will probably insist she take part, anyway.

Behind her, she doesn’t hear the quiet conversation. She doesn’t see Naruto jump up and down, cheering over ramen. And when she returns to the others, she doesn’t even notice Shino’s searching look, or how Shikamaru’s eyes also follow her path from where she rounded the corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely happy with this Chapter, but I really wanted to give you guys something after the long wait.
> 
> But yes! So Shisui is a bit easily distracted, Hinata will probably become the new spymaster or hidden manipulator or something, and Sakura takes a punch to the brain. Genjutsu on kids is probably bad for brain development or something. Must be a reason they don't use it for teaching or something, right?
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy! I'll probably (haha, I mean hopefully) be updating my other fics soon as well.


	11. Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really wanna thank a certain commenter. Without them, this wouldn't be out yet.
> 
> Are you wondering if it's you? Well, then it probably is.

Recently, Naruto has found himself very, very happy.

The whole world has changed for him. Before, nobody even wanted to look him in the eye. Now, he gets so many people talking and playing and smiling at him. It’s almost overwhelming, to have everything be so different so suddenly.

Usually, he would hang around the playground, trying and failing to get someone to play with him. These days he doesn’t even go to the playground, unless he goes with Ino and Sakura, or Sasuke and Hinata. Usually, when school is done, he’s too tired to even prank! And then, if he ends up going home with some of his classmates, he’s almost asleep by the time he gets to his apartment. There is something to do all the time now, and Naruto thinks that’s really, really cool.

It’s not only the kids that pay attention to him, though. He’s been noticing the teachers actually looking at him during classes now, or during breaks. It’s not just angry looks either!

He’s even gotten an adult friend. That isn’t the old man, of course. The old man is more like a grandpa, anyway. Or at least how Naruto’s heard grandpas should be.

Naruto grips the hand of his favourite adult tightly, and jumps a bit in excitement as the hand squeezes back.

They’re even getting ramen! Naruto hadn’t really known how awesome ramen actually was, until this person brought him to a place called ‘Ichiraku’. The old man there actually smiles at him, and that just makes the noodles taste that much better.

“You know, Naruto, maybe I should bring you on one of my adventures sometime,” his friend says, after a very cool tale about a ninja adventure the man had been on. Naruto grins, and thinks of himself going out rescuing princesses and saving small villages from evil mob bosses.

“Really!?” he erupts through his mouthful of pork and noodles, and swallows the whole mouthful in one. The guy just looks at him through that weird mask of his. Naruto had thought the mask was a bit scary at first, but this person is really nice! So that means the mask is nice too.

“Yep! It could be fun, y’know? Naruto and Tobi, off saving the world! I bet your friends would be really impressed as well!” Tobi quips, and Naruto is pretty sure he is smiling under his mask. With that tone he has to be, right?

“That would be so cool! An- an we could go around to lotsa different places and save people and be friends with them too, right?” Naruto says, and almost falls off the chair as he waves his arms in excitement. Tobi nods, and Naruto grins even wider as he whirls back to devour the rest of his ramen.

Tobi even pays for all the food afterwards. Tobi is the best! Naruto makes sure to appreciate every bite of the amazing dish, and the next, and the one after that. He ends up with a stack of five bowls, and Tobi just keeps talking cheerily beside him while Naruto eats.

It feels… Safe, in a way. When Naruto first started talking with Tobi, he had been afraid the man would leave. It had taken him many conversations, and Tobi coming back again and again, before Naruto could convince himself that the man wouldn’t suddenly disappear.

At least, not without telling him.

“So after dealing with that, I’ll be coming back again Naruto-kun! And then you can join me on an adventure,” Tobi says, and Naruto nods. There is a small feeling of dread, at the thought of Tobi leaving. But he’ll come back! So it’ll be fine!

“And by the time you come back, I’ll be so strong! You just wait, dattebayo!” Naruto shouts. Tobi reaches up and ruffles his hair, as he’s started doing recently, and Naruto grins widely at him.

“I’ll look forward to it!” The man giggles, and then he rises from his seat. For a moment, he stills, his mask facing Naruto. It’s a thing the man does sometimes, this weird silence part. But Naruto’s gotten used to that too, and it wouldn’t do to judge people for stopping every once in a while! Tobi then nods, and turns away. Then he disappears in a whirl of leaves.

Naruto’s grin vanishes from his face, and he stares at where the leaves hit the ground. Then he hops down to the ground, and makes sure to smile at old man Teuchi as the man thanks him for eating there.

“I’ll be back, old man!” he shouts, and waves at Teuchi as he walks away. Naruto rounds a corner, and starts running.

///

There is absolutely nothing in the world Tenzo wouldn’t do for Konoha. While he has seen the dark corners of the village that few others have been privy to, he can still say that he would easily give his life to protect it.

Even so, he finds himself at a loss.

There is not only one, but three children in his home. The apartment he rents is barely big enough for one, with only one bedroom and furnished with the bare necessities of what is needed to live. Even so, the room that can only barely be called a living room is now taken up by three small tatami mats, on which three former Root agents are currently sitting.

They are all staring at him, with eyes so alike his own. It would make him shudder, if it wasn’t for the instinct that instantly smothers the urge. Instead, he stares back, trying to bring his thoughts into some semblance of order.

“Are you hungry?” he asks, because filling base needs should be easy enough.

Bringing back their humanity? That part is far harder.

Even so, Tenzo can already observe a crack in the mask. The youngest gives in to her uncertainty, and glances at the other two. She can’t have come far in her training, to show her thoughts this apparently.

“We received sustenance approximately 4 hours ago,” the oldest of the three responds mechanically.

They have all been cleaned up and healed, or Tenzo would have dealt with that first. It does seem to him that the best course of action would be food-making at the moment.

“Good, then I do believe you could stand to eat.” Tenzo moves over to the kitchen part of the room, and goes to the fridge. He stocked it earlier that day, when informed that he would be feeding more than just himself. The ingredients are brought to the counter, and Tenzo is glad he’s already planned the course.

“Gin, would you help me cut the vegetables?” Tenzo asks, and the oldest immediately moves over to do so.

The boy is the least hurt of the three, and thus also the most capable of helping. Tenzo tells the other two to just relax, and goes over to the stove to prepare the rice.

In little time, the two of them have prepared an acceptable stew. It gets poured over the rice that has been portioned out in four bowls, and soon enough they sit to eat the meal in silence.

It quickly becomes clear that the three children have not eaten such food in a long time, and they all eat quickly, even if Gin makes an attempt to pace himself. 

As they polish their bowls, making sure to get every last scrap of rice or sauce, Tenzo eyes them contemplatively. He will need to plan a course for them, to find the best way to get them back to health both mentally and physically.

His eyes stay on the youngest for a bit. Au will be the easiest, as she is of an age to start the academy. She is not yet entrenched in Root training, and might easily snap back once she is around kids her own age.

Eri, meanwhile, is a few years older than Au, and it shows. Her mask has been in place this entire time, and there has yet to be even a twitch to her facial muscles in response to her environment. While not as old as Gin, she has clearly been involved in training and missions for some time. The academy might not be the place for her, anymore, even if she is below graduation age still.

Gin is a ninja of his own rights, and probably high chuunin level at that. While it’s hard to judge accurately when Tenzo has not actually seen him in action, it was clear from his state down in the Root headquarters that he had fought his way to the top when ordered to do so. The other two had survived through other means; Au had been found unconscious, and it seemed to be only luck that she was still alive; Eri had been found sitting in a corner, and had according to reports been protecting herself with genjutsu. Gin, meanwhile, was bloodied from top to bottom, and most of the blood was not his own.

They all have their own unique abilities, that much is apparent. Tenzo is sure that Konoha will see fit to utilize them, whether they go through the academy first or not.

Before that happens, Tenzo will at least try and make sure they are ready for it. 

///

Shino has a hard time figuring out how to feel about their guests. He tries to map out the why’s, but the two older boys are much harder to read than the members of his clan. For Shino, Aburame are easy; you just have to observe how their inhabitants act, in order to get a read on the person. But other people don’t have bugs reacting to their emotions. Instead, they make motions with their faces and tones in their voices, and Shino has only barely started to figure out how that relates to moods.

So when someone don’t even make the face motions, or talk in a particular way, it’s impossible.

He tries anyway; it feels important, to know how the two are doing. Despite hope, Shino’s brother won’t be coming back. So Sai and Shin are all he’s going to get.

No one had told him much about how Torune had been found. Shino had seen his body at the funeral, swaddled in cloth, and that was it.

He also knew that Torune’s bugs had been extracted, that they had refused to die with his body. Shino had even seen the marks on his father’s face, the signs that he had been attacked by a foreign swarm. He doesn’t really want to think about what that means, so he focuses on Shin and Sai instead.

They are mostly silent at meals. They answer when spoken to, but Shin is usually the one who speaks unless Sai has been directly asked about something.

Shino has heard that Sai will start at the academy, in the class above him. Shin will start as a genin. He wonders how it will be for them, to be separated like that.

He doesn’t ask. He only watches, making his own conclusions, while trying to make his hive calm down under his cloak.

They’ve been buzzing for days now.

///

Ino is scared. Every since her cousin had come home, he has been confined to a room on the upper floor. She hears him, sometimes in the night, and sometimes in the day; he’s shouting and threatening and thrashing the room. The walls are reinforced, and Ino knows this is because they sometimes have patients over who have violent tendencies. But it’s never been one of  _ her _ family, and that scares her.

Her father had told her soon after bringing Fuu home, that she should go sleep over at the flower shop with her mother. So she had, for the first few days. But she wanted her own room, and she wasn’t used to sleeping all the way on the other side of town. So her father said she could come home.

It’s a couple of days after that that she goes past Fuu’s room, and stops to listen.

He has been shouting, his voice going raw many hours ago. His volume is no longer as loud, and Ino thinks it almost makes it worse.

“Please,” she hears, and his voice sounds less angry now. There is a sob, and she clenches her hands by her side.

“I need to go to him. Danzo-sama needs my help. Let me out. I know you’re there… LET ME OUT!” he ends his begging in a shout, and there is a loud bang on the door. Ino jumps back, but he doesn’t open it. He doesn’t manage to get through, any more than he has the days past.

She wants to run. But she also wants to go into the room and hug her cousin, because she doesn’t know what else to do.

Instead, she slides to the floor, her back against the wall opposite the door.

“Fuu-kun,” she says, her voice almost resounding in the silence of the hallway. She almost calls him “-nii”, but it doesn’t fit in her mouth. And she’s never had a brother before, so it just doesn’t feel right.

“I’m Ino, your cousin. My dad says we’ve met before, but I don’t really remember. It was many years ago, but maybe you remember me. I started the academy last year, and I’m six years. Almost seven! And I’ve heard lots about you, and that you are an awesome ninja already. I’m so jealous! I’m going to become a really good kunoichi, and maybe we could even go on missions together and stuff? Though you must be really good, since you’ve gotten training from a legend! And I’ve only learnt some things at the academy. But I’ll catch up with you, you know? And then we can go to missions together…” she rambles, filling the silence with words. He’s gone still, at the other side of the door.

She pauses for a second, before she starts again. “The other day, we learnt how to summon our chakra! It was really difficult, but dad already taught me a bit when we meditate. It was really funny, because so many didn’t get it. They were all confused, and concentrated so hard it looked like they were gonna poop themselves!” she brings up a giggle, as much at the use of a “bad” word as at the image it brings up in her mind. “I think my friend Sakura managed it, but the rest looked really annoyed! Except Hinata-chan I guess, but she’s being taught a lot by her clan, so she doesn’t count. It’s cool that Sakura gets it, you know, when she doesn’t have a clan? She’s really amazing, it’s just so annoying that she keeps hiding away!”

Ino doesn’t pause. She just keeps talking about her friends, what they do at the academy, what they do when they play tag or ninja and bandits or hide and seek. She talks until her throat is sore. When she feels herself growing tired, her eyelids growing heavy, she finishes by telling him good night.

Standing up, she turns to walk away. Then, she freezes.

“Good night, Ino,” a quiet voice says through the door.

She smiles so brilliantly she thinks her face might split. There is a skip in her step as she walks to her room. The next day, her father pats her shoulder, telling her she’s done well. The pride feels like a blossoming tree inside of her. The next evening she returns, and tells Fuu about her day once more.

///

“Perhaps you should reconsider,” Konan says quietly, dangerously so. She does not lift her eyes from Madara, even as he turns his red eye upon her. The orange mask hides whatever face he has left, but he has already proved himself healthy enough in his old age to take on them both.

Nagato doesn’t say anything. He remains in the background, and it’s hard to say where his Rinnegan is focused. Konan doesn’t take her eyes off Madara in order to check.

“Or perhaps you should do as you’re told,” the Uchiha counters, his voice resounding between the rock walls that surround them.

“We are not your puppets to order around. You can’t just change our entire aim as you please!” she says, and regrets how her voice doesn’t quite keep the calm she’s aiming for. Her demeanour should remain clear, even if her mind isn’t. Nagato will all too easily react to the emotion he perceives her to have, and his reactions have proved volatile in the past.

Madara stares at her for several long moments. His sharingan whirls slowly, not yet in its final stage. It reveals that he’s not actually going to attack her. Not at the moment, at least.

Even so, Konan can see that Nagato has become restless. He shifts where he sits, and Konan can feel the paper she has on Yahiko move as he silently stalks the shadows, just out of sight.

Then Madara chuckles, and Konan feels her entire body tense in preparation.

“The aim is still the same, is it not? Peace. And to achieve that through the jinchuuriki. It is not a bad plan, to bring them here under the guise of uniting them. If it proves insufficient to achieve the peace we have envisioned… Well, then we already have them, don’t we?” In the end, he sounds almost like he’s speaking to a child. Strangely enough, that is what it takes for Konan to gather herself.

Despite everything, Madara believes them to be well under his thumb. That will be his downfall, should he ever betray them.

“Do you believe they will join us, then?” Nagato speaks, his voice rasping through his throat. Konan tries to decipher that tone, while not looking to see his expression. He sounds more open to the idea than she would have thought. Not entirely hopeful, but certainly not the clear ‘no’ she had expected.

“The jinchuuriki have been wronged by this broken system, just as much as you and I,” Madara responds, and he sounds pleased. It gives Konan the sudden urge to strangle him. It is not the first time she’s had to smother this feeling.

Nagato believes that Madara wants the same end as they do, though. It’s clear in how the two now start to debate, figuring out the approaches they should have with the various individuals. It’s been apparent since they started working with the man. Since the day Yahiko had no longer been able to voice his objections.

Whatever Madara’s intentions are, Konan will make sure they reach their goal. Even if she has to kill the old Uchiha to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... No Itachi? Who is this fic even about anymore?
> 
> Hehe, I felt like there had been just a tad bit too many plot-driving events. I'm hoping this chapter might... Flesh things out a bit? At least, I wanted to deal with the matter of what happened with the Root children. They wouldn't really be put into orphanages, when they're already trained killers, so where would they go? Some have families, but most don't.
> 
> So yeah. I've also been thinking about that scene between Tobi and Konan ever since I figured out the turn Akatsuki was going to take. Not certain if I did it justice, but that is also just my general feeling at the moment.
> 
> I am severely sleep-confused at the moment. So if this chapter doesn't make sense, let's put the blame there, yeah?
> 
> I wrote a thing with more Iruka and Itachi, because their relationship isn't really explained much in this. https://archiveofourown.org/works/18633166 Go check it out! (if you want)
> 
> I hope you enjoy!


End file.
